ADA – The East Central University women's basketball team played it first ranked opponent of the season and ended up falling to No. 23 Arkansas Tech 52-64 in Great American Conference action at the Kerr Activities Center.
Photo GalleryThe Tigers (2-8, 2-4 GAC) were led by junior
Alexa Adair, who tallied 11 points, three rebounds and three assists. Sophomore
Aalyiah Blakely added nine points and five boards, while junior
Courtney Cowan garnered seven points and six rebounds.
The start of the game was a tight battle, with no team leading by more than two points in the first five minutes. ECU was the first team to make a push, using an 8-0 run over a two-minute span to jump out to a seven-point advantage (16-9). However, the Golden Suns (82-, 6-0 GAC) followed with a 7-2 run in the final three minutes of the first quarter to cut the advantage to two (18-16).
The back-and-forth battle resumed in the second quarter, with four ties in the 10-minute period. ATU fought out to a four-point advantage, with just under 4:30 to play and kept the lead until a 4-0 Tiger run in the final 1:39 of the half forced a 28-all tie heading into the locker room.
The third quarter was where the Golden Suns really took control, using a 4-0 run in the first three minutes to pull ahead. However, ECU countered to force a final tie for the game at 32, with 6:16 left in the quarter. That is when ATU really started their push and used a 10-2 run in the final four minutes of the quarter to take a 34-42 lead.
The final 10-minute period was a tight battle, with the Tigers keeping the deficit around 10 points before falling 52-64.
The Golden Suns took advantage of a 29-36 lead in rebounding and tallied 12 second-chance points to the Tigers eight. ATU also garnered a 13-of-19 mark from the charity stripe and held ECU to a 7-of-10 mark.
The Tigers will now get ready to hit the road for the first time in over a month when they travel to Weatherford, Okla., to face Southwestern Oklahoma State, Thursday, Jan. 14 at 5:30 p.m. ECU will then return home Saturday, Jan. 16 at 1 p.m.to host Oklahoma Baptist.
