PENSACOLA, Fla. – The University of West Alabama women’s basketball team suffered a 69-39 loss to No. 20 Arkansas Tech in its return to the hardwood in the opening game of the West Florida Holiday Classic on Monday, Dec. 29.

Valerie Harris continued to lead the Tigers (3-8) in scoring and rebounds with a 12 point, seven rebound effort in the setback. Heissy Robledo led ATU (8-3) in scoring with 13 points. Taise Da Silva and Rachel Brazell each added 11 points, while Amanda Grappe tabbed in 10 points to go along with her team-leading eight rebounds.

UWA, which trailed by six at the half, was outscored 42-18 in the second half in the loss. The Red and White held a three point lead, its largest of the game, in the opening half with 15:16 remaining before the break. Back-to-back treys put the Golden Suns up 10-7 and a layup by Robledo extended the lead to five with 13:54 remaining in the first half. UWA strung together an 8-0 run, capped by a Jenni Thomley three-pointer, to pull back in front, 15-12, with 12:17 left before the intermission. Thomley finished with nine points on the night.

The two teams exchanged leads before ATU claimed a 19-18 with less than six minutes to play in the first stanza. The Golden Suns closed the half on an 8-3 run to hold a 27-21 lead at the break.

UWA closed the margin to four points on two different occasions in the opening minutes of the second half, but ATU wouldn’t relinquish the lead. The Golden Suns reached their largest lead of the game, 31 points, on a trey from Grappe with 3:36 remaining in the contest.

UWA closes out the UWF Holiday Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 30 against Southern Arkansas at 4:00 p.m. The Lady Muleriders (5-6) opened the classic against host West Florida at 6:00 p.m. Goldie White paces SAU in scoring with 18.6 points per night. Kmaria Hobbs, who averages 16.9 points per game, leads SAU on the glass, averaging 7.9 boards.