Natalia Santos scored 23 points and Jenny Vining notched 17 points to lead the nationally fifth-ranked Arkansas Tech Golden Suns to a 77-67 victory over the Harding Lady Bisons at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville on Thursday night.
Santos (photographed) was 9-of-16 from the field, while Vining connected on 5-of-10 field goal tries — including 3-of-7 from 3-point range.
The Golden Suns won their 28th consecutive home game and improved to 26-0 at home all-time against the Lady Bisons.
Tech (15-2 overall, 4-1 Gulf South Conference) scored the final seven points of the first half to take a 35-27 edge at halftime.
Harding (13-5, 4-2) got within 54-49 with 10:21 left, but back-to-back baskets from Jessica Weatherford and Taise da Silva extended the Golden Suns’ lead to 58-49 with 9:23 to go.
That was when Tech’s Katie Horsman took over. She scored seven consecutive Golden Suns’ points to make it 65-51 with 6:10 left.
It was all part of an 18-5 Arkansas Tech run that gave the Suns an insurmountable 72-54 lead with 3:55 left.
Horsman finished with 15 points. Weatherford (12 rebounds) and Shaquilah Davis (career-high 11 rebounds) helped the Golden Suns earn a 44-30 rebounding edge.
Sierra Rollins led Harding with 18 points and eight rebounds.
The Golden Suns will visit Ouachita Baptist for a 3 p.m. GSC contest at Vining Arena in Arkadelphia on Saturday, Jan. 29.
The game can be heard on KWKK 100.9 FM in the Arkansas River Valley and around the world at www.athletics.atu.edu.
]]>
