As of right now, Arkansas Tech University is the hammer and the rest of Great American Conference women’s basketball is the nail.
The nationally 20th-ranked Golden Suns (13-2 overall, 11-0 GAC) continued their domination tour on Saturday, throttling the University of Arkansas-Monticello Cotton Blossoms 90-60 at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville.
The victory allowed Arkansas Tech to complete the first half of the 2015-16 double round-robin GAC schedule undefeated in league play.
It was the Golden Suns’ seventh consecutive win. Their average margin of victory during the winning streak has been 19.6 points.
“We got a lot of good shots and made a lot of shots in the first half,” said Tech head coach Dave Wilbers. “We were able to get our transition going, and we played at a high level. I like that we played fast and found the open person. Teams are throwing a lot of different defenses at us, and we’re doing a good job of executing against zone and man-to-man”
Arkansas Tech made 22-of-29 (76 percent) field goal tries during the first half while building a 55-25 lead at the intermission. The Golden Suns outscored the Cotton Blossoms 25-8 over the final 6:14 of the second quarter.
That surge started shortly after UA-Monticello’s Jordan Goforth picked up her fourth foul. Goforth entered the day second in NCAA Division II in scoring at 23.8 points per game. Foul trouble and Fatima Adams’ defense limited Goforth to 14 points on Saturday.
The margin never dipped below 24 points in the second half as Arkansas Tech won its 15th consecutive home game.
Adams had 20 points and eight rebounds to pace the Suns. Anissa Pounds notched 17 points, while Kelsey McClure had a season-high 11 points.
Bre Brooks also had 11 points for Tech. Brooks made six assists and no turnovers, giving her 31 assists and six turnovers over her last five games.
Aujana Dawkins chipped in 10 points for the Suns.
Nikki Mullen scored 15 points for the Cotton Blossoms (8-6, 5-5), who fell to 0-10 in their last 10 road games against Arkansas Tech.
The Golden Suns will host Southwestern Oklahoma State University for a 5:30 p.m. GAC contest at Tucker Coliseum on Thursday, Jan. 28.
Tickets ($5 adults / $3 senior citizens and students) will be available at the door. Those with a valid Arkansas Tech identification card will be admitted free of charge. Radio station KCJC 102.3 FM and www.arkansastechsports.com will have live coverage.
