Blossoms Fall to Golden Suns at Home, 70-63

Courtesy UAM Athletics Department

MONTICELLO — The University of Arkansas at Monticello women’s basketball team was defeated by Arkansas Tech on Thursday at home by a final score of 70-63 in a game that featured 12 lead changes and seven tie scores.

The Cotton Blossoms (2-11, 0-8 Great American Conference) rallied from down 13 points with 3:41 remaining to cut the Arkansas Tech lead to five points with 46 seconds remaining, but the Golden Sun guard Roselis Silva made a pair of free throws with six seconds remaining to seal the seven-point victory.

The Golden Suns (9-6, 6-2) reached that 13-point lead following a 21-9 scoring run over a period of nine minutes after UAM trimmed ATU’s lead to just one point at the 12:18 mark of the second period.

The game started with a back-and-forth battle over the first nine minutes before the Cotton Blossoms grew its lead to as much as seven points following a 10-2 scoring run capped by a three-pointer from freshman Nikki Mullen at the 8:30 mark. ATU quickly responded with a 5-0 spurt to bring the margin back to two points with 6:09 remaining in the first half.

The Golden Suns scored the final five points of the first half and used a 9-2 run to close out the half, giving ATU what was then its largest lead of six points (38-32) at the break. 

As a team, UAM shot 40 percent from the field (25-of-63), 20 percent on three-pointers (3-of-15) and 67 percent on foul shots (10-of-15). ATU shot 46 percent from the field (25-of-55), zero percent on three-pointers (0-of-3) and 74 percent on foul shots (20-of-27). 

The Golden Suns won the rebounding battle 47-30, but committed eight more miscues, leading to UAM’s 18-7 advantage on points off turnovers.

Freshman Jordan Goforth led UAM with 23 points after making 10-of-16 field goal attempts, including one three-pointer. Goforth finalized her scoring with a 2-for-2 outing at the free-throw line.

ATU placed four scorers in double-digits, led by Jessica Weatherford’s 19 points and 10 rebounds. Jasmine Poole added a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Cotton Blossoms return to action this Saturday, January 19 against Harding on the road. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Rhodes Field House in Searcy, Ark.