RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team found themselves trailing by as much as 16 points in the second quarter but went on to put forth a completely dominant second half of action to flip the script and beat No. 12-ranked Harding, 84-69, in front of over 1,500 fans inside a raucous Tucker Coliseum on Thursday night.
That furious comeback effort by the Golden Suns started immediately in the third quarter as they out-scored Harding 11-0 through the first four minutes of play to go from being down 10 to up one, 42-41. The run would extend to 13-0 before Harding finally scored at the 3:53 mark of the third quarter.
After getting that first bucket, Harding regained the lead at the 2:28 mark. That was the first of four lead changes over the final two and a half minutes of the third quarter. The game was also tied three times with the last one coming with six second left as it would be tied at 52-all heading into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was where the Golden Suns caught fire and ran away from the Lady Bisons. The Golden Suns were the ones to break the 52-all tie in the fourth quarter on a split trip to the line by
Logan Young. From that point on, the Golden Suns were in the lead, swelling it to an apex of 17 points before closing with a 15-point win.
In that game-changing second half, the Golden Suns shot 63.0% overall from the floor (17-of-27), 40% from three-point range (4-of-10) and 75% from the free throw line (15-of-20). Conversely, Harding made just 10-of-26 field goals from the floor (38.4%) with no makes from three (0-of-6) and 8-of-12 from the free throw line (66.7%).
For the Golden Suns, five players scored in double figures and were led by
Jadah Pickens and her 18 points. Pickens was 5-of-6 from the floor and 8-of-12 from the free throw line. She added a team-high five assists as well. Young was next with 15 points followed by
Dessie Lancaster with 14.
AbbiGrace Cunningham made all three of her three-point attempts and ended with 13 points.
Perina Leime rounded out double-figure scoring with 12 points.
The Golden Suns will now prepare for a home game against Arkansas-Monticello on Monday, January 26. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. from Tucker Coliseum, weather permitting.
