Box Score (html)
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – After trailing by just three points at halftime, the SWOSU Lady Bulldogs were the victim of a 12-0 run by No. 21 Arkansas Tech in the middle of the third quarter as the Golden Suns pulled away for a 91-69 victory on Thursday night at Tucker Coliseum.
SWOSU shot 40.5% from the field in the first half and really battled the Golden Suns early on, going to the intermission trailing 38-35 despite connecting on just 2-of-10 three-point attempts.
Jennifer Williams came off the bench to score 12 first-half points, while
Janae Coffee had nine and was the only starter for SWOSU to score more than three points in the half.
The intensity remained high for SWOSU early in the second half as the Lady Bulldogs pulled within two points on two different occasions. The deficit was three, 50-47, at the third-quarter media timeout before Arkansas Tech went on a 12-0 run that included two three's from Calli White, who scored 16 points in the quarter for ATU. The Golden Suns took a 70-57 lead to the fourth quarter and they outscored SWOSU 21-12 in the final period for the final margin.
Janae Coffee led SWOSU with another double-double, her third in the past five games, as she finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Jennifer Williams added 12 points, but she was held scoreless after the break, while
Hailey Tucker had nine on 4-for-17 shooting.
"In the first half we were battling with them, but we were unable to respond and answer some of their big baskets in the second half," SWOSU Head Coach
Kelsi Musick said. "We didn't execute on offense when we really need to score and when we executed we missed some shots we usually knock down. I think the second half was very disappointing, but we have to do what we can to go try and beat Harding on Saturday."
The defeat drops SWOSU to 11-7 overall and 7-5 in GAC play with 10 games remaining in the regular season. The Lady Bulldogs face another top GAC squad in Harding on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm in Searcy.
