By: Houston Taylor, SID
MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Amanda Grappe’s 26 points and eight rebounds powered No. 22 Arkansas Tech (11-3, 1-0 GSC) past Southern Arkansas (6-8, 0-1 GSC) in the teams’ Gulf South Conference openers Saturday at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.
The Golden Suns used a 21-5 run in starting the second half to bolt out to a 52-32 margin with 6:55 left in the game. The Lady Muleriders roared back with a 15-4 spree of their own to put it in single digits at 56-47 with 2:08 remaining, and were within 56-49 with a minute left on sophomore forward Kristy Shinn’s jumper. But SAU was only able to get three more shots off the rest of the way, missing all three, and Brittany Gottsponer’s two free throws with 14 ticks left set the final margin for ATU.
Southern Arkansas jumped out to an early lead in the first half and was up 15-10 at 11:50 on Shinn’s three-pointer. Tech regrouped, and led by Grappe’s 14 first half points, went up 29-22 at 1:42, before settling for a 31-27 advantage at the break.
Grappe, who came into the game leading the conference in scoring, was 10 of 16 from the floor, missing her only trey attempt, and perfect on six free throws for her 26 points in 34 minutes of play. She added two assists, a blocked shot, and two steals, but also suffered seven turnovers.
The Golden Suns shot 52.9 percent (9-17) in the second half to finish at 46.3 (19-41) for the game. They hit 2 of 8 three-pointers and were 18 of 22 (81.8 percent) at the free throw line. The Lady Muleriders couldn’t get the shots to fall, finishing 16 of 53 (30.2), including 4 of 17 (23.5) from beyond the arc. They connected on 13 of 20 (65.0) at the line.
Heissy Robledo was the only other ATU player in double figures, scoring 10.
Junior center Crystal Kirk paced SAU with 14 points. Junior guard 
Goldie White, just behind Grappe in averaging 18.5 points a game in the league, was held to 10 points, converting just 2 of 13 from the floor. White finished with a game-high seven assists and had a team-high six rebounds.
The teams matched each other on the glass with 33 rebounds apiece. Arkansas Tech had 22 turnovers and Southern Arkansas 21. The Lady Muleriders held a 25-9 margin in points off the bench, but the Golden Suns countered that with a 30-20 scoring advantage inside.
SAU travels to face Harding on Thursday in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.
Photos by Bill Nielsen
