RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The No. 4 Arkansas Tech Golden Suns proved to be too much for the Lady Statesmen to overcome as ATU raced to a 73-62 victory in the NCAA South Region championship game Tuesday on its home court at Tucker Coliseum.

Jessica Weatherford, the Gulf South Conference West Division's Freshman of the Year, led the Golden Suns with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Weatherford was also named the South Region tournament's Most Outstanding Player at the game's conclusion.

Veronica Walker (Indianola, Miss./Gentry HS), the GSC West Player of the Year, led the No. 8 ranked Lady Statesmen with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Walker recorded double-doubles in all three of DSU's South Region games, and finished the season with 15 double-doubles.

Bug Cooper (Indianola, Miss./Gentry HS) scored 18 points for the Lady Statesmen.

Natalia Santos scored 15 points for Arkansas Tech, which won its third every NCAA regional title, and its first since 1999. Delta State was seeking its 14th regional championship.

The win by the Golden Suns (31-2) was their third over Delta State this season. The Lady Statesmen (27-4) defeated Arkansas Tech at home in Cleveland, Miss. in February.

Down by one at halftime, the Golden Suns seized control of the game with 9-2 run over the first five minutes of the second half to take a 43-36 lead. An 8-0 Tech run between the 14:33 and 11:38 marks gave the Golden Suns its first 10-point lead of the game.

Compounding woes for the Lady Statesmen after halftime was the relative inability to put the ball in the basket. Delta State shot 36 percent (10-of-28) from the floor during the latter 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Golden Suns began to heat up after returning from the locker room – Arkansas Tech shot 61 percent (14-of-23) from the field during the second half.

For the game, Arkansas Tech outshot their visitors 50 percent (29-of-58) to 42 percent (24-of-57) from the field.

Though they were down, the Lady Statesmen were not out, as they managed to cut the Arkansas Tech lead to four points twice during the second half. DSU used a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 63-59 between the 5:31 and 3:18 marks, but were unable to get any closer.

Arkansas Tech put the exclamation point on the victory with an 8-1 run over the last 2:29 of the game.

As the top two teams in the region, neither Arkansas Tech or Delta State was able to gain much of advantage in the early going of a first half that featured seven ties and seven lead changes.

Arkansas Tech built a couple four-point leads before the midway point of the first half, but they were neutralized by the Lady Statesmen. The Golden Suns took their biggest lead of the half with 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor to take a 26-20 with 6:42 remaining.

But just as most of the crowd of 2,577 was beginning to elevate the home team's play to another level, the Lady Statesmen responded with a 8-1 run over the next three minutes, taking a 28-27 lead on a fast-break layup by Collins and a subsequent free-throw attempt.

The Lady Statesmen took a 35-34 lead into halftime. Cooper and Walker each scored 10 points by the midgame break. Weatherford and Ashley Chisum both scored nine points for Tech in the first half.

Shameka Russell (Waynesboro, Miss./Southeastern Louisiana) scored seven points for Delta State. Jessica Collins (Jackson, Miss./Itawamba CC) added six points for the Lady Statesmen.

As the South Region champion, Arkansas Tech will face East Region champion Franklin Pierce next Tuesday, March 23 at the Elite 8 in St. Joseph, Mo. The Golden Suns will be seeking their first national title since claiming the 1993 NAIA championship.

The loss at Arkansas Tech concluded the collegiate career of Dominique Sutton (Jackson, Miss./Pensacola JC), the lone senior on the Lady Statesmen's roster.