RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The East Central University women's basketball team came back from a 13-point deficit at Arkansas Tech, but could not finalize the win, falling 71-69 in Great American Conference action.

Scoring

• 1^st Quarter: 18-24
  • The teams traded the first two shots
  • The Tigers (3-9, 1-5 GAC) followed with a 5-2 run in the next two minutes for a 7-4 advantage
  • The teams then started trading shots for a tie at 9, with 6:27 left on the clock
  • ECU pulled ahead with a 5-0 run in the next minute (14-9)
  • The Golden Suns (7-3, 4-2 GAC) countered with a 10-0 run over 3 minutes to gain a 19-14 lead
  • ATU continued to push and got the lead out to as many as 8 in the final 2 minutes
• 2^nd Quarter: 16-17 (34-41)
  • The Golden Suns took over in the first 3 minutes, increasing the advantage to 13 (20-33)
  • The Tigers fought back over the next 3:30 minutes and used a 12-1 run to cut the deficit to 2 (32-24), with 3:30 left to play
  • ATU pushed back and used a 4-0 run to regain a six-point cushion
  • The teams traded shots in the final minutes
• 3^rd Quarter: 19-14 (53-55)
  • The teams traded shots in the first two minutes
  • ECU then went on a 5-1 run to cut the lead to one (44-45), with 6:13 left to play
  • The teams traded shots the remainder of the stanza, with ATU holding the lead between 1-4
    • Game tied shortly at 51 and 53
    • The Golden Suns went into the final 10 minutes with a two-point lead
• 4^th Quarter: 16-16
  • ATU hit the first shot of the quarter to push the lead back to 5 (53-58)
  • The Tigers fought back immediately, with a 6-0 run in the next two minutes to take their first lead since the opening quarter (59-58; 7:54 remaining)
  • The teams returned to the back-and-forth battle, with several ties and no team leading by more than 2 until the final 2 minutes
  • The Golden Suns were able to gain a three-point lead, with 1:53 left to play
  • ECU struggled to make shots in the final 6:30 minutes of the game
    • No field goal after 6:42
    • Made 5-of-6 free throws
  • No team made a shot after 1:53
    • ECU 4-of-4 free-throw line
    • ATU 3-of-4 free throw line
  • The Tigers got within one with 8.1 seconds remaining
    • Had a chance to tie the game after the Golden Suns missed a free throw with 6 seconds remaining

Tiger Quick Shots

• Second-chance points were the key to the victory for ATU
  • ECU – 4 / ATU - 14
• The teams were close in all shooting categories
  • FG: ECU – 12-of-61 (34%) / ATU – 25-of-62 (40%)
  • 3PT FG: ECU – 6-of-21 (29%) / ATU – 4-of-22 (18%)
  • FT: ECU – 21-of-25 (84%) / ATU – 17-of-23 (74%
• All but one of the 8 Tigers to play scored at least two points
  • Four ECU players earned double-digits
    • Sr. Sam Schwab: 22 pts., 8 reb., 2 assists, 53.3 (8-of-15) FG%, 6-of-7 FT
      • Career high for points, field goals made
      • Season high for free-throws made
    • Jr. Madison Rehl: 14 pts., 6 reb., 2 assists, 4 steals, 10-of-10 FT
      • Career high for steals and free throws made
    • Jr. Kendall Schulte: 13 pts., 9 reb., 2 assists, 45.4 (5-of-11) FG%, 50.0 (3-of-6) 3PT FG%
      • Career high for rebounds
    • So. Hannah Ladd: 10 pts., 7 reb., 2 assists
• Team tied for a season-high 69 points
  • Season bests with 8 steals and 21 free throws made

Up Next

• The Tigers will now return to the Kerr Activities Center for a two-game home stand
  • Thursday, Jan. 4 vs. Southern Arkansas – 5:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, Jan. 6 vs. Arkansas-Monticello – 1 p.m.
• ECU will then start a four-game road trip through Jan. 25