Clutch Work From Charity Stripe Fuels Suns

Free throws might not be the most glamorous part of basketball, but they can make all the difference come postseason time.

Arkansas Tech University made 26-of-30 free throws on Thursday, including 11-of-12 in the fourth quarter, to defeat East Central University 68-64 in the women’s basketball first round of the Great American Conference Tournament at Bruin Fieldhouse in Bartlesville, Okla.

“It was a very physical game, and it was called tight,” said Dave Wilbers, ATU head coach. “I’m proud of the team for being tough today. There are a lot of emotions come postseason time. Our players know the stakes are high, and everyone is playing hard this time of year.”

The second-seeded Golden Suns (24-3) advance to face either No. 3 seed Henderson State University or No. 6 seed Ouachita Baptist University in the GAC Tournament semifinal round at 8 p.m. Saturday. The Reddies and the Lady Tigers will play their first-round game at 8 p.m. Friday.

Radio station KCJC 102.3 FM and www.arkansastechsports.com will provide live coverage of Tech’s semifinal game on Saturday night.

Cheyenne North notched 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Suns on Thursday, while Lyrik Williams finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. For North, it was her seventh double-double of 2017-18 and the 10th double-double of her two-year career in the green and gold. Williams collected her ninth double-double of the season.

Tech’s Kylie Ladd scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds. She was 11-of-11 from the free throw line, including 6-of-6 over the final 3:15.

Jacie Higgins added 11 points, seven rebounds and perhaps the biggest play of the game.

With the Golden Suns leading 60-57 and 1:13 remaining, Higgins caught a pass in transition from Ladd, made a layup, was fouled and connected on the free throw to give Tech a 63-57 edge.

“What an athletic play that was,” said Wilbers. “I take it for granted because I see (Higgins) do it in practice every day, but she took an outstanding pass from Kylie, pulled it down and finished.”

From there, the Golden Suns made 5-of-6 from the free throw line to hold off the seventh-seeded Tigers. East Central finished the season with a 10-17 overall record.

Tia Williams scored a game-high 18 points for the Tigers. She was 6-of-6 from the field, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range.