RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas Tech rallied from seven points down with 3:01 remaining in regulation to force overtime, then beat the 11th ranked Drury Lady Panthers 77-74 in Russellville, Arkansas on Wednesday.
Drury dropped to 8-2 while the Golden Suns won their sixth straight game to improve to 7-1.
The Lady Panthers led 62-55 with 3:01 left in the fourth quarter but went without a field goal for the rest of regulation.
Arkansas Tech tied the game the game at 63-63 with five seconds left in regulation on a lay-up by Kelsey McClure. Drury had three shots at the basket in the final five seconds but a lay-up attempt was missed by Briana Jones and put-back tries from Hailey Diestelkamp and Jones both came up empty.
The Golden Suns went 5 for 7 from the field in overtime outscoring the Lady Panthers 14-11 in the extra period.
“We had some crucial possessions where we needed stops and we did a really good job on defense for 28 seconds of the possession but we couldn’t lock in for the last few seconds to get that stop,” said Drury head coach Molly Miller. “They did a good job of isolating some of their players that were hot but we have to do a better job of closing out a defensive possession and getting the rebound.”
The win helped Arkansas Tech turn the tables on Drury after the Lady Panthers rallied to beat the Golden Suns last year with a 21-7 fourth quarter to win 71-64 at the O’Reilly Family Event Center. This time, Drury led for nearly 35 of the 40 minutes of regulation and never trailed in the second half until the overtime period.
Daejah Bernard led Drury with a game-high 20 points. The freshman from St. Joseph, Missouri went 4 for 5 from three-point range and had six assists in the game. Diestelkamp picked up her third double-double of the season with 14 points and a season high 16 rebounds.
Cheyenne North led Arkansas Tech with 16 points while Danielle Frachiseur had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
The Golden Suns shot 51 percent from the field hitting 28 of 55 shots. It is the best shooting percentage the Lady Panthers have allowed in a game this year.
Drury shot 41.5 percent from the floor hitting 27 of 65 shots but went 9 for 16 from free throw line and was 4 for 8 from the stripe in the second half.
The Lady Panthers continue their two-game road to Arkansas on Saturday. Drury takes on the University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith on Saturday at 1 p.m.
