Nationally 15th-ranked Arkansas Tech University saw its undefeated run through the Great American Conference come to an end on Monday night with an 82-79 double overtime loss to the Harding University Lady Bisons at Rhodes-Reaves Field House in Searcy.
The loss snapped the Golden Suns’ 13-game winning streak and ended their hopes of becoming just the fourth Arkansas Tech women’s basketball team to complete its conference schedule undefeated.
“I’m proud of our team,” said Golden Suns head coach Dave Wilbers. “We played our guts out. We stayed after it and after it. We had our chances. We’ve got to play better in the first half.”
Harding led by as many as nine points late in the second quarter. Arkansas Tech pulled within 33-30 at halftime, but six straight points to begin the third quarter stretched the Lady Bisons’ lead to 39-30.
The Golden Suns (19-3 overall, 17-1 GAC) scored the final six points of the third quarter to trim Harding’s edge to 47-44 heading to the final 10 minutes.
Arkansas Tech grabbed its first lead of the second half at 58-56 on a Fatima Adams layup with 2:05 remaining. Adams came through again with 2.1 seconds left in regulation by making a 10-foot jumper from the right baseline to send the game to overtime tied 64-64.
It was Harding that had to fend off elimination in the first extra period. A’ndrea Haney made 1-of-2 free throws with 10.1 seconds left to tie the score at 73-73 and force double overtime.
Arkansas Tech, which had four players foul out of the game compared to zero for the Lady Bisons, trailed for most of the second extra period before tying the score at 79-79 on an Adams bucket with 57.6 seconds remaining. The Golden Suns were called for their 32nd and 33rd fouls of the game in the final 16.3 seconds, and Harding made 3-of-4 free throws to earn the win.
Adams matched her season high with 33 points and established a new season high with 17 rebounds. The senior All-American also blocked a career-high six shots.
Anissa Pounds added 18 points for Tech before fouling out.
Sydney Layrock paced the Lady Bisons (15-7, 13-5) with 24 points.
The Golden Suns will host Henderson State University at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville on Thursday, Feb. 18. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
Tickets ($5 adults and $3 students/senior citizens) 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.
