BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Tournament MVP Fatima Adams completed her virtuoso performance at the Great American Conference Women’s Basketball Championships by scoring 34 points and grabbing 12 rebounds to pace the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns to a 106-85 victory against Southwestern Oklahoma State on Sunday from the Bruin Fieldhouse.
One day after she scorched Southern Arkansas for 43 points, Adams connected on 14-of-22 from the field to establish a GAC Tournament scoring record with 88 points in her three games. She did most of her damage in the first half when she accounted for 26 of Arkansas Tech’s 53 points. She held the previous tournament record when she scored 74 points in three games last year.
The #15 Golden Suns (26-3) closed the first quarter on a 13-7 run to grab a 28-21 lead at the break. In the second quarter they outscored the Lady Bulldogs (20-11) 13-3 on second-chance points, which came one quarter after SWOSU held a 12-2 advantage in the same category. Tech steadily pulled away throughout the second half and its 106 points established a GAC Championship record for scoring proficiency.
Bre Brooks and Kelsey McClure joined Adams on the All-Tournament Team. Brooks added 21 points, six assists and six rebounds in the win. She carried a 3.6-1 assist-turnover ratio at the GAC Championships. McClure made 15-of-20 shots in the three victories and averaged 12.0 points per game.
Southwestern Oklahoma State’s freshmen duo of Hailey Tucker and Hayden Priddy garnered All-Tournament honors. Tucker, who scored 21 points in the title game, averaged 19.7 points in the three games while Priddy averaged 15.0 points and 5.0 assists.
East Central’s Jalyn Jackson and Whitney Stotler plus Southern Arkansas’ Rosa Bryant rounded out the eight-member All-Tournament team.
The Golden Suns, who entered the tournament as the No. 6 team in the final regular-season NCAA Division II Central Region rankings, will learn their postseason destiny during Sunday evening’s NCAA Selection Show. It streams on NCAA.com at 9:00 p.m.