Golden Suns Turn the Tables on Harding

Arkansas Tech University ended a five-game women’s basketball losing streak at Rhodes-Reaves Field House by defeating the Harding University Lady Bisons 77-64 in Great American Conference play at Searcy on Monday night.

The Golden Suns (11-2 overall, 7-2 GAC) forced Harding into 18 turnovers and finished with a 26-8 edge in points off turnovers. The win also ended a streak of five consecutive Lady Bisons’ wins over Arkansas Tech regardless of location.

Arkansas Tech outscored Harding 15-2 over a span of five minutes late in the first quarter and early in the second period. Cheyenne North scored the first four points and Jayana Sanders notched the final seven points during the surge. When it was over with 9:29 left in the second quarter, Tech led 28-16.

“It was very important that we get off to a good start,” said Dave Wilbers, ATU head coach. “This was a big-time atmosphere with a lot of people. We’ve been struggling early in games, but we’ve always continued to take good shots. We did that again tonight, and they went in.”

Harding (6-11, 2-7) switched from man-to-man to zone defense and the Golden Suns cooled, making 5-of-16 field goal attempts in the second quarter after they shot 10-of-17 from the floor during the opening 10 minutes.

Tech used its own defense to maintain the advantage. Harding committed 12 first-half turnovers, leading to a 15-6 edge in points off turnovers for the Golden Suns and a 41-33 ATU lead at the intermission.

The Golden Suns pulled away by connecting on 10-of-18 field goal tries during the third quarter, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Tech led 64-47 after three quarters and maintained at least a 13-point lead throughout the final period.

Ke’Vonshaye Stackhouse scored a career-high 22 points for the Suns. She was 8-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Sanders finished with 20 points.

“That’s a real big sign,” said Wilbers when asked about the poise displayed by Stackhouse and Sanders. “Those two are very talented, and they are calm. That’s something we talked about a lot these last 24 hours.”

North contributed 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots for Tech.

Kellie Lampo paced the Lady Bisons with 15 points.

The Golden Suns will visit the University of Arkansas-Monticello for a 5:30 p.m. GAC contest on Thursday, Jan. 18. Radio station KCJC 102.3 FM and www.arkansastechsports.com will provide live coverage.