RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team picked up a hard-fought 77-75 win at home on Tuesday afternoon against former conference rival Delta State.
The win moves the Golden Suns to 4-0 on the season and gives them an unblemished non-conference record as they now shift to a Great American Conference-exclusive schedule beginning the first weekend of December. The 4-0 start is the first for the program since the COVID-abbreviated 2020-21 season and is the ninth time doing so under head coach
Dave Wilbers.
In getting the win, the Golden Suns had to come back from a cold shooting first quarter that saw Tech trail throughout and be down by as much as 13 points before trailing by a dozen, 26-14, at the end of the period.
While the Golden Suns struggled to a 23% overall shooting mark (3-of-13) while going 0-for-5 from three-point range, the Lady Statesmen enjoyed a first quarter that had them shoot 57% overall (8-of-14) and 4-of-5 (80%) from three-point range.
The Golden Suns would get their feet under them offensively in the second quarter and by the 5:14 mark, they had come all the way back to take a lead, 29-28, their first of the game. At that timestamp, the Golden Suns capped a 10-0 run with an old-fashioned three-point play from
Dessie Lancaster.
That one-point advantage then resulted in seven lead changes and three tie scores over the final five minutes or so of the second quarter. During that stretch of tight back-and-forth action, the largest lead on either side was just two points. Delta State, however, was able to buck that trend in the waning seconds of the half and made a pair of free throws to double their lead from two to four at the break.
The Lady Statesmen would remain in the lead for much of the third quarter, building out the lead as large as seven points with 6:18 to play. The Golden Suns had another big run in them, however, and by the 3:15 mark led by four points themselves as they ripped off an 11-0 run.
Delta State regained the lead by the two-minute mark, but the Golden Suns swung the advantage back in their favor with just over a minute to go and held a one-point lead, 61-60, going into the fourth.
Over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, action was once again tightly contested with the lead changing hands six times. The last of that exchange was in favor of Tech as they took a 71-70 lead with 4:04 to play on a tip-in layup by
Logan Young.
That score would hold for the next three minutes of action as neither team was able to score.
With just under a minute left in regulation, the Golden Suns got a clutch three-pointer from
Perina Leime to make it a four-point game, 74-70. The Golden Suns' defense then continued to go to work on the Lady Statesmen and held them on their next possession, forcing Delta State to foul to extend the game.
The first trip to the line down the stretch saw the Golden Suns split the trip, making it a five-point game, 75-70, with 16 seconds left. Delta then quickly got a layup on their end to make it a one-possession game. That was the Lady Statesmen's first made field goal since the 5:05 mark of the fourth quarter.
The Golden Suns were once more fouled and sent to the free throw line. This time, both attempts were good as Lancaster sunk both shots. Those proved to be two very big free throws as the Lady Statesmen would be credited with a made three-pointer as time expired, bringing the score to its final of 77-75.
Tech would have three players score in double figures and were led by Young. She would have a single-game high 21 points. Young was 8-of-15 overall and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Lancaster was next with 16 points off the bench. She was 4-of-7 from the floor, 1-of-2 from three-point range and 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. Lancaster also added 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.
Leime rounded out double-figure scoring with 14 points. She was 4-of-10 from the floor including 3-of-6 from three-point range and 3-of-4 from the free throw line.
The Golden Suns will now prepare to start their GAC schedule of games beginning on Thursday, December 4 against Northwestern Oklahoma. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
