BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Fatima Adams, the 2016 Great American Conference Player of the Year scored a career-best 43 points to lead No. 15 Arkansas Tech to a 99-85 win against Southern Arkansas on Saturday at the GAC Women’s Basketball Championships in Bruin Fieldhouse and send the Golden Suns back to the title game for the second-straight year.
 
Adams hit 19-of-27 shots from the floor and grabbed 10 rebounds to record her 11th double-double. The 19 field-goals made tied the GAC record for a single game and she became just the fourth Golden Sun to reach the 40-point plateau.
 
The Golden Suns (25-3) held a one-point lead after the opening quarter, but extended their lead to 51-41. Southern Arkansas (19-9) ended the third quarter on a 13-4 run, highlighted by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Caroline Ficher, to pull the Lady Muleriders to within five, 69-64. Arkansas Tech outscored Southern Arkansas 30-21 and made 9-of-14 shots in the final quarter to secure their spot in the championship game.
 
Kelsey McClure, whose pass set up Aujana Dawkins for the buzzer-beating layup on Friday night, finished with 14 points in 20 minutes off the bench for Arkansas Tech. Defensively, the Golden Suns forced the Lady Mulerider in 17 turnovers; they converted those 17 turnovers into 15 points..
  
SAU’s Rosa Bryant finished with a team-high 27 points on 11-of-16 from the floor. Tierra Tucker and Caroline Ficher added 12 points each respectively.
 
Arkansas Tech earned a spot in the GAC Women’s Championship Game for the third time in five seasons. The Golden Suns will square off with Southwestern Oklahoma State in a rematch of the 2013 title game, won by the Golden Suns, 70-66, in overtime
 
This season, The Golden Suns defeated the Lady Bulldogs by at least 20 points in both meetings during the regular season.  For the first time in GAC history, ESPN3 will carry the broadcast, which tips at 3:30 p.m.