Arkansas Tech University is conference champion once more.
The nationally 15th-ranked Golden Suns clinched at least a share of the 2015-16 Great American Conference women’s basketball championship on Saturday with a 77-68 victory over Southern Arkansas University at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center in Magnolia.
It is the 25th regular season conference title in the 39-year history of the Arkansas Tech intercollegiate women’s basketball program.
As was the case for many of its previous 24 conference titles, Tech did it with defense.
The Golden Suns (19-2 overall, 17-0 GAC) switched from man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone in the second half and limited Southern Arkansas to 2-of-19 shooting from the field in the fourth quarter.
As a result, Arkansas Tech came from behind to win its 13th consecutive game and remain undefeated in league play with five regular season games remaining.
“We’ve been working on our 2-3 zone a lot in practice,” said Golden Suns head coach Dave Wilbers. “Our man-to-man defense has been so good this year, but credit SAU today. They made a lot of one-on-one plays. We had that zone in our back pocket, and the girls were fantastic in it.”
Southern Arkansas jumped out to a 13-5 lead over the first three minutes of the game. Arkansas Tech countered with an 18-4 run to take a 23-17 lead at the end of one quarter.
The Golden Suns led by as many as nine points in the second quarter before Southern Arkansas rallied. Shana Holmes made a layup with 3.1 seconds left in the half to tie the score at 39-39. Caroline Ficher stole the ensuing inbound pass and made a 6-foot jumper from the left baseline at the second-quarter buzzer.
It was the end of a half-closing 9-0 run by the Lady Muleriders that gave them a 41-39 lead at the intermission. It marked the first time this season that Arkansas Tech trailed at halftime of a GAC game.
Southern Arkansas (14-7, 10-7) led 62-58 at the end of three quarters, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Anissa Pounds and Tierani Richardson put the Golden Suns in front for good at 66-64 with 6:39 remaining.
Tech’s 2-3 zone defense took it from there, holding the Lady Muleriders without a point for a stretch of more than five minutes to bring home the victory and yet another conference championship.
Fatima Adams scored 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Golden Suns. It was her 22nd career double-double.
Anissa Pounds made five 3-pointers and finished with 15 points, making her the 28th Arkansas Tech women’s basketball player to reach 1,000 career points.
Tech’s Bre Brooks added 12 points, all of which came in the second half.
Southern Arkansas was led by Tierra Tucker with 20 points.
The Golden Suns will have a chance to clinch the GAC title outright when they visit Harding University for a 5:30 p.m. GAC contest in Searcy on Monday, Feb. 15. Radio station KCJC 102.3 FM and www.arkansastechsports.com will have live coverage.
