RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – With 668 career wins, 16 conference championships and six state titles at the high school level in Arkansas,
Daryl Fimple opened his collegiate coaching career with a win at his alma mater as the Arkansas Tech women's basketball team beat Arkansas-Fort Smith, 78-64, on Monday night inside Tucker Coliseum.
In the win, the Golden Suns displayed a high-octane energy and effort on both ends of the floor, which led to them taking 76 total shots on offense and forcing 26 turnovers on defense, which led to 26 points for Tech.
Over 75% of the shots taken by the Golden Suns against Arkansas-Fort Smith came inside the three-point line, and they were successful on 47% of those (28-of-59).
After Tech broke a six-all tie on a layup by
Dessie Gehler at the 5:32 mark of the first quarter, the Golden Suns scored six more points unanswered to get out to an eight-point lead before ending the period with a six-point lead, 20-14.
The lead would reach a high-mark of 21 points twice in the second quarter, and after carrying a 15-point lead into the locker room, the Golden Suns would lead by double-digits the entirety of the second half.
Four Golden Suns reached double-figures in scoring and were led by
Jessie Lyle and her career-high 19 points. Lyle was 8-of-14 overall from the floor, 2-of-6 from three-point range and 1-of-1 from the free throw line.
AbbiGrace Cunningham was next with 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Gehler followed with 13 points off the bench while
Ari Gordon finished with 10.
Gehler pulled down the most rebounds for the Golden Suns with eight.
Katie Fimple led the team in assists with six.
The Golden Suns will now prepare to travel to Cleveland, Mississippi where they will take part in the Delta State Invitational on the weekend of November 13-14. On the 13
th, the Golden Suns will take on Minnesota Duluth at 7:30 p.m. and then face Delta State on the 14
th at 6 p.m.
