Arkansas Tech University’s Dave Wilbers earned his 200th career victory and the Golden Suns maintained sole possession of first place in the Great American Conference standings with a 69-48 win over Ouachita Baptist University at Vining Arena in Arkadelphia on Thursday night.
Wilbers is the second-fastest head coach to 200 wins in the history of women’s college basketball in the State of Arkansas. Thursday marked his 252nd game as Golden Suns’ head coach.
The only person to reach that plateau in fewer games is Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame member Joe Foley, who earned his 200th win in his 224th game as Arkansas Tech head coach.
“I’ve had a lot of really good players and a lot of really good assistant coaches,” said Wilbers. “It’s a good accomplishment. It means I’ve had the chance to coach for a long time.”
Fatima Adams scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Golden Suns (9-2 overall, 7-0 GAC). It was Adams’ 19th career double-double and the fifth game this season in which she has scored 20 or more points.
Aujana Dawkins added 16 points for Arkansas Tech, which improved to 17-2 in its last 19 games against the Lady Tigers (5-8, 2-5).
The Golden Suns limited Ouachita Baptist to 14-of-47 shooting (30 percent) from the field and forced the Lady Tigers into 26 turnovers.
“We made two adjustments at halftime, and the girls really executed them in the third and fourth quarters,” said Wilbers. “(OBU) hurt us at times with their post players, but our girls listened at halftime. I was proud of our defensive effort, and we should be getting better. We’ve really been working on it.”
Arkansas Tech led 19-9 at the end of one quarter and 32-26 at halftime. A 9-0 run late in the third and early in the fourth quarter staked the Suns to a 53-36 edge with 9:27 remaining, and they maintained at least a 13-point advantage the rest of the way.
Breanna Harris scored 13 points for Ouachita Baptist.
The Golden Suns will play their first home game in more than 40 days when they host Southern Arkansas University for a 1 p.m. GAC contest at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville on Saturday, Jan. 16.
Tickets ($5 adults, $3 students and 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.
