SOUTHAVEN, Mississippi – After reaching the semi-finals of the Gulf South Conference Tournament for the first time in school history, Arkansas Tech ended the Blossom’s chance of winning a GSC title with a final score of 72-63.

Tech’s Krishna Baker made 14 second half points to make it difficult for the Blossoms to post a comeback. UAM did outscore Tech in the second half, but poor free throw shooting kept UAM out of it.

Freshman Erika Brown (Shreveport, La.) kept getting the ball in the paint with good looks at the basket, but Tech kept applying pressure and forcing Brown to make free throws, an area of the game in which she struggled with all season. Brown made five of her 11 attempts from the charity stripe.

Also a hindrance in UAM’s chances was turnovers. The Blossoms committed 11 first half turnovers, allowing Tech to take a 12-point lead into the locker room at halftime.

“We made too many turnovers in the first half, which lost the game for us” said UAM head coach Chris Ratcliff in the post-game interview. “Give Tech all the credit…I kept waiting for them to switch to a man defense, but it’s no surprise they didn’t…their zone troubled us all game long.”

Tech’s Nikki Earles had a career-high game with 20 points and single-handily beat UAM in the three-point game after making five of seven attempts from beyond the arc. UAM, which began the game with an average of close to eight three-pointers made per game as a team, only connected on four attempts in the semi-final loss.

Junior leading scorer Andrea Dubose (Hickory, Miss.) was responsible for half of the team’s treys, making two of four attempts in the game, while freshman Janette Thompson (Hot Springs, Ark.) and senior Gemma Gibson (Dodd City, Texas) both had one.

Brown tied the team-high with her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while senior Shakia Sanders (Chester, S.C.) also scored 13 points. Also reaching double-digits was junior Sharlene Murphy (Coldwater, Miss.), who scored 11 points, followed by Dubose with 10 points.

“It was nice to have expectations this season,” said senior Gemma Gibson. “This year, we showed everyone that we belong here…This loss was disappointing, because we showed up today ready and expecting to win.”

“I’ll remember this team for several years,” said senior Shakia Sanders. “We had a lot of fun doing what we set out to do when the season started…We really wanted to win this one.”

“These seniors really opened a door for UAM to turn the corner,” said Ratcliff. “This team was almost totally different from last year’s team. We really stressed togetherness this year and that’s exactly what they did…There were no cliques. Everyone meshed well with each other, and that was a big factor in our success this year.”

This season marked the first time the Blossoms have won 16 games in a season in nine years. The last head coach to accomplish the feat was current UAM Director of Athletics Alvy Early, who led the 1998-99 Blossom to a 16-8 overall record, one season after losing in the NCAA South Regional Tournament Finals to Arkansas Tech.