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GOLDEN SUNS COLLECT WIN OVER ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO IN GSC
TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS; ADVANCES TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
SOUTHAVEN,
Mississippi
–
13th-ranked
Arkansas Tech Women’s
Basketball continued its outstanding play in the Gulf
South Conference Basketball Tournament as the Golden
Suns advanced to its eighth championship game in as many
appearances following Saturday’s 72-63 semifinal victory
over Arkansas-Monticello here at the DeSoto Civic
Center.
Tech, who improved to 25-4 overall on the season, used a
three-pointer from junior guard Nikki Earles
(Huntsville, Ark.) with 2:56 left in the game to turn
what was a 61-54 lead into a 64-54 advantage. The trey
was Earles’ fifth of the game and proved to be the
game-winner as she tallied a career-high 20 points in
the win.
“That shot by Nikki was huge, it seemed to put a stop to
UAM’s momentum,” Golden Suns Head Coach Dave Wilbers
said. “We have a lot of confidence in Nikki.”
Tech’s win was all the more impressive
considering its played most of the second half with
three of its starters, sophomore guard Brittany
Gottsponer (Morrilton, Ark.), junior forward
Amanda Grappe (Benton, Ark.) and senior forward
Daiane Domingos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) battling foul
trouble. Gottsponer and Domingos both fouled out and
Grappe had four fouls.
“The officiating was tight in the second
half,” Wilbers said. “But I was proud of our players for
hanging in there and battling. Our bench players did a
good job of coming in and stepping up.”
With Grappe and Domingos in foul trouble,
senior Krishna Baker (Little Rock, Ark.) stepped
offensively as she scored 14 of her 18 points after
halftime.
“K.B. really did a nice job down low in the
second half,” the first-year Tech coach said.
In addition to Earles’ 20 points and Baker’s
18 points, Grappe tallied 15 points and pulled down a
career-high 16 rebounds, while Gottsponer added eight
points, three assists and four steals in 37 minutes of
action.
Tech used a 13-4 run over a span of seven
minutes in the first half to turn an 11-9 lead into a
24-13 advantage following a free throw by Gottsponer.
UAM pulled within 24-18 on two free throws by Sharlene
Murphy, before Tech used a lay-up by Grappe and a
three-pointer from Earles to push its lead back to 29-18
with 3:51 remaining. The Golden Suns closed the half on
a trey by Earles with 40 seconds left to send Tech into
halftime with a 34-22 lead.
In the second half, UAM, who finished 16-14
on the season, opened on a 12-3 run to pull within 37-34
after a lay-up by Murphy with 15:42 remaining. The
Golden Suns, though, used a 17-8 run to push out in
front 54-42 following a three-pointer by Domingos. The
Cotton Blossoms, though, wouldn’t go away as they used a
10-3 run to pull within 57-52 on a jumper by Andrea
Dubose, before Earles’ momentum-changing three-pointer.
UAM was paced by 13 points apiece from Erika
Brown and Shakia Sanders, while Murphy had 11 points and
seven rebounds and Dubose added 10 points in the loss.
Brown and Gemma Gibson, who played her final game as a
Cotton Blossom, each pulled down 10 rebounds in the
game.
For the game, Tech shot 43 percent from the
field and 35 percent from the 3-point line, while UAM
shot 30 percent from the floor and was held to 15
percent (4-for-26) from long distance. Both teams shot
63 percent from the free throw line and there were a
combined 62 free throws shot in the game. In addition,
Tech was outrebounded, 44-42, including 23-13 on the
offensive glass and committed 22 turnovers.
The Golden Suns will seek its third GSC
Tournament Championship on Sunday when it faces
top-ranked and undefeated Delta State in the 12 p.m.
title game. The match-up will be the third of the season
between the two teams as the Lady Statesmen collected a
65-63 win in Cleveland and a 73-71 victory in
Russellville. The championship game will be broadcast on
a tape-delayed basis on Cox Sports at 7 p.m. on Sunday.
Cox Sports is available on Suddenlink Digital Cable
Channel 119 in Russellville.
Arkansas-Monticello Box
Score
-- Tech Athletics
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