RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – 14th-ranked Arkansas Tech highlighted the Thursday night Great American Conference women’s basketball contests by recording its seventh consecutive victory to move back into a tie for firstplace in the league standings. Ouachita Baptist, East Central and Southwestern Oklahoma State also recorded victories on Thursday night.
ARKANSAS TECH 71, SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE 52
DURANT, Okla. – Arkansas Tech (18-3, 9-3 GAC) extended its streak to seven consecutive victories and grabbed a share of first place in the GAC standings by recording a 71-52 road win over Southeastern Oklahoma State (9-14, 5-8 GAC) on Thursday night at Bloomer Sullivan Arena. It is ATU’s second win over SOSU this season. Southeastern held ATU to a single-digit lead until the final two minutes of the opening period, and even forced a 27-all tie at the 5:24 mark, but the Golden Suns closed the half on a 15-4 scoring run to hold an 11-point lead at halftime. ATU held at least a seven-point lead for the entire second half, leading by as much as 21 points with 30 seconds remaining. ATU’s Katie Horsman and Roselis Silva shared the game-high in scoring with 14 points each. Ashley Hobbs led Southeastern with 10 points.
EAST CENTRAL 83, SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 57
ADA, Okla. – East Central (7-16, 5-8 GAC) avenged an earlier loss to Southern Arkansas (2-20, 2-10 GAC) by defeating the Lady Muleriders 83-57 on Thursday at home inside the Kerr Center. The first half of Thursday’s contest went back-and-forth for the first 13 minutes before ECU used a 10-0 scoringover the span of four minutes to grab a 13-point lead with 4:23 remaining in the opening period. Just over one minute later, ECU began a 10-2 run throughout the remainder of the first half to hold an 18-point lead at halftime. That lead grew into the 20s in the first two minutes of the second half, and stayed above 20 for the remainder of the contest. The Lady Tigers led by as much as 34 points with 7:05 remaining in regulation. ECU’s Dilan Webster led all scorers with 20 points in just 16 minutes off the bench. Webster was 6-of-8 from the field and 8-of-8 from the foul line. Shenelda Livingston led SAU with 16 points.
OUACHITA BAPTIST 76, HARDING 60
SEARCY, Ark. – Ouachita Baptist (15-8, 8-5 GAC) knocked Harding (16-6, 9-3 GAC) out of sole possession of first place in the GAC standings by recording a 76-70 road-victory over the Lady Bisons on Thursday night inside Rhodes Field House. It was OBU’s second win over HU this season. Turnovers played a big role in OBU’s victory. The Lady Tigers forced 21 HU miscues, and only committed 13, which led to a 25-17 advantage in points off turnovers. The first half featured five tied scores and eight lead changes with neither team leading by more than four points, held by OBU with 1:24 remaining until halftime. The Lady Bisons led by one point at halftime. OBU grew the first large lead of the game midway through the second half following a 13-2 scoring run to give the Lady Tigers a 12-point lead with 11:17 remaining in regulation. OBU never led by less than 10 points from that point forward and grew its lead to as much as 20 points with 1:03 remaining. OBU’s Nashia James led all scorers with 17 points. Montana Lewis led HU with 14 points.
SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE 71, ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 52
WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Southwestern Oklahoma State (14-9, 9-4 GAC) snapped its four-game losing streak by defeating Arkansas-Monticello (8-14, 4-8 GAC) at home on Thursday night by a final score of 71-52. It was SWOSU’s second win over UAM this season. After a back-and-forth first half that gave UAM a 35-33 advantage at the break, the Bulldogs dominated the second half. SWOSU outscored UAM 38-17 in the final 20 minutes, holding the Cotton Blossoms to just six made field goals in the final half. For the game, SWOSU shot 42.6 percent from the field (26-of-61), while holding UAM to a 35.8 percent outing (19-of-53). SWOSU’s Sumiya Darden highlighted the individual performances with 18 points and a game-high of 12 rebounds, her GAC best 12th double-double of the 2011-12 campaign. However, teammate Michelle Fisher led all scorers with 22 points in 35 minutes off the bench. Chelsea Johnson led UAM with 17 points.