ALVA, Okla. – The Arkansas Tech women's basketball team bounced back from disappointing loss on the road on Thursday night and came away with a pivotal 86-85 win on the road at No. 24-ranked Northwestern Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon.
On Thursday, the Golden Suns were held to season-lows in points and field goal percentage, but completely flipped the script against NWOSU on Saturday as they scored 86 points on 47.6% shooting overall. The improved offensive output started early as the Golden Suns had 25 points on 61.5% shooting overall (8-of-13).
One of the areas that helped kickstart and sustain the Golden Suns' offense was success from the three-point line. In the first quarter, the Golden Suns knocked down 5-of-9 from deep and ended with 11 makes.
That rejuvenated offense as needed throughout as the Golden Suns and Rangers engaged in a heavyweight back-and-forth battle. Overall, there were six lead changes and 10 tie scores in the game.
The last of those tie scores came at the very end of regulation as
Logan Young forced overtime with a layup. Prior to that, the Golden Suns had trailed NWOSU starting at the 6:33 mark of the fourth quarter.
In overtime, the Rangers scored the first three points over the first minute of action in the extra period. NWOSU would not score the rest of the way, however, as they went 0-for-6 with three turnovers.
The Golden Suns would had struggles of their own offensively in overtime, but got their points when it mattered most. With 1:54 left, Young made good on a pair of free throws to bring the Golden Suns within a point of the NWOSU lead, 85-85. Those two makes from the charity stripe made Young a perfect 10-of-10 from the line in the game and gave her points 24 and 25 on the afternoon.
After that make, NWOSU attempted to go for it all with a three-pointer, but missed. They would get the offensive rebound and had a shot at the putback, but missed that as well. They would come away with a second offensive rebound on that possession, but turned it over on a steal from
Marleigh Sellars.
The Golden Suns would turn it over themselves on the ensuing possession, prompting the Rangers to call a timeout with just under a minute left to advance the ball and set up a play. They once more elected to go for a three-pointer, this time with 39 seconds left and missed that try and Young secured the defensive rebound.
With possession and about 39 seconds left, the Golden Suns got the ball down the court and attempted a three of their own. It would draw iron, but
ClaraGrace Prater was there to clean the offensive glass and preserve the possession. Now with 11 seconds remaining on the overtime clock, Dessie McCarty drove down the right side of the paint and laid it in for the go-ahead basket. It would prove to be the game-winning bucket as NWOSU missed a last-second three-pointer.
Three other Golden Suns joined Young in double-figure scoring.
Perina Leime was next with 15 points followed by
Madelyn Atkins with 12 points off the bench.
Shalyn Lyle had an even 10 points.
The Golden Suns will now return home where they are set to play three games over a five day stretch starting on Thursday, February 5.
