A pair of scoring runs lifted the nationally top-ranked Arkansas Tech Golden Suns to a 66-56 victory over the West Georgia Wolves in non-conference women’s basketball at The Coliseum in Carrollton, Ga., on Monday night.
The Golden Suns (5-1) used a 15-4 run to claim a 26-13 lead with 5:04 to go before halftime. Tech held a 33-16 edge at the intermission.
It looked like the Suns would pull away for an easy win when they opened the second half with a 15-5 spurt. They led 48-24 with 15:43 to go.
However, West Georgia (1-5) was not quite ready to give up. The Wolves put together their own 21-8 run to cut Tech’s advantage to 56-45 with 8:22 remaining.
That was when the Suns re-asserted themselves on the defensive end of the floor. Tech held West Georgia without a made field goal for a span of 4:36 as the Suns opened a 62-46 lead with less than four minutes to go.
Tech steered it home from there as it bounced back from a loss at West Alabama on Saturday.
Defense was the biggest difference between the two games on the road trip for the Golden Suns. After allowing West Alabama to shoot 49 percent from the field on Saturday, Tech held UWG to 28 percent shooting from the field on Monday.
The Wolves might have handed the Suns a second consecutive loss if West Georgia could have taken better advantage of its second chance opportunities.
UWG grabbed 24 offensive rebounds on Monday, but it only scored 11 second chance points.
Natalia Santos scored a game-high 20 points for the Suns. She was 9-of-16 from the field.
Jenny Vining and Lindsey Root notched nine points apiece for Tech, while Jessica Weatherford had eight points and seven rebounds. Laura Beth Anderson and Katie Horsman had seven points each.
Monica Williams paced West Georgia with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Golden Suns will next take the floor on Saturday, Dec. 4, for a non-conference game against St. Edward’s University (Texas). Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville.
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