RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team took the No.18-ranked Arkansas Tech Golden Suns to the very end and threatened ATU's perfect record on the season before the Lady Muleriders ultimately fell by a score of 87-81 on Saturday afternoon at the Tucker Coliseum.
 
In the first half, both teams would shoot the ball well as the Lady Muleriders ended the first 20 minutes of play shooting 50% (13-of-26) from the floor while the Golden Suns shot 57% (16-of-28). Five of the 16 made field goals for Tech came from beyond the arc with the first of those opening scoring in the game. That early triple by Tech would be give the Golden Suns (8-0, 3-0 GAC) the only lead they would need in the game as they would lead wire-to-wire.
 
Despite not being able to take a lead in the game, the Lady Muleriders (4-5, 2-3 GAC) would keep the contest within striking distance throughout as their largest deficit was just 11 points with 12:35 left in the first half. At the break, the Lady Muleriders would trail by six points, 44-38.
 
In the second half, the Golden Suns would open up the first two minutes on an 8-3 run to push their lead back out to 10 points, 52-42, with 17:43 of the game. With 14:19 left in the game, however, Brianna Sifford would make good on a layup to bring the Lady Muleriders' deficit down to single digits. Over the next 5:33 of the game, the Lady Muleriders would continue to chip away at the Golden Sun lead and eventually pulled themselves as close as two points, 68-66, with 8:06 left to go.
 
The Golden Suns would hold off the Lady Muleriders at that point, however, as they eventually worked their lead back out to as many nine points with just 1:18 left. A quick 5-0 Lady Mulerider run over the next 37 seconds of the game made the waning moments interesting, but again it was the Golden Suns who would stave off the surge to earn the six-point win, 87-81.
 
Four Lady Muleriders would score in double figures with Rosa Bryant leading the way with 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting. Bryant would also add 11 rebounds to earn her second double-double of the season. Behind Bryant in scoring for the Lady Muleriders was Tierra Tucker with 16 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Chanel Miller and Sifford would add 12 and 11 points, respectively.
 
As a team, the Lady Muleriders would out-rebound Tech 38-27 with 15 of the rebounds coming on the offensive glass.
 
The Lady Muleriders will now prepare for a pair of non-conference games next week with the first of those coming Monday afternoon at Philander Smith. Tip-off for the game in Little Rock is scheduled for 1 p.m.