Golden Suns Cage Lady Tigers 78-63

A 14-0 first-half run by Arkansas Tech University set the course for a 78-63 Golden Suns’ victory over Ouachita Baptist University in Great American Conference women’s basketball at Vining Arena in Arkadelphia on Saturday afternoon.

Tech (18-3 overall, 14-3 GAC) used that spurt to take a 33-14 lead with 4:48 left in the second quarter. Kylie Ladd’s 3-pointer capped the run and forced OBU (9-14, 6-11) to call timeout.

The Suns led 41-22 at halftime and by as many as 24 points in the second half. Tech earned its seventh straight win over the Lady Tigers and its fourth consecutive victory overall.

“We’re becoming a very consistent basketball team on both ends of the floor,” said Golden Suns head coach Dave Wilbers. “We played good team defense today, and our scoring was balanced. Our main emphasis the last two weeks of the season is we have to stop fouling.”

Tech committed 23 fouls against OBU and attempted 13 fewer free throws than the Lady Tigers.

The Golden Suns made up for that deficit with rebounding, topping Ouachita Baptist 44-28 in that category.

Tech’s Danielle Frachiseur had 15 points and eight rebounds, while Kelsey McClure finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Ryann Goodsell matched her season high with 12 points.

Taylor Bowles netted 15 points for the Lady Tigers, who fell to 2-9 in their last 11 games.

The Golden Suns, who are in sole possession of second place in the GAC standings, will host GAC-leading Harding University for a 5:30 p.m. contest at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville on Monday, Feb. 13.

It will be Literacy Night at the coliseum. Elementary school students will receive free admission with a paid adult, and all elementary students in attendance will receive a free book.

In addition, Tyson Foods will serve free bratwursts with chips and drink to the first 600 fans in attendance, and the first 150 ATU students in attendance will receive a free T-shirt.

“We need a big crowd, and we need a loud crowd,” said Wilbers. “We’re in senior week, and man do we have some good seniors. They are fantastic people and they’ve had fantastic careers. This is a great group of young ladies. It’s the highest team grade point average I’ve ever had. They’re doing the right things, and we look forward to our fans coming out and supporting them.”