LIVINGSTON, Ala. – Knocking off the nation's top-ranked team in dominating fashion, the University of West Alabama women's basketball squad defeated visiting Arkansas Tech by an 85-73 score at Pruitt Hall on Saturday. The Tigers improve to a pristine 3-0 on the year with the win while ATU falls to 4-1.

The 3-0 mark to begin the season is the program's best start since matching the feat in the 2005-06 campaign.

The hosts never trailed in the contest as they scored the game's first four points before eventually pushing out to a 16-4 lead just over six minutes into the game as Dakota Powell hit the first of her game-best seven 3-point baskets to cap off a 10-0 run for the Tigers.

West Alabama would enjoy the 12-point advantage again halfway through the opening period but then saw its lead dwindle down to just one with 7:01 remaining as the Golden Suns used a 14-3 run to cut into the deficit.

Not being deterred by the string of Tech points, the Red and White responded with an 8-0 run that was capped off by back-to-back treys from Powell and Mystee Dale to produce a 36-27 advantage with just over two minutes left in the stanza, and the Tigers went into the locker room at the half with the game tilted 45-34 in their favor.

The UWA offensive effort was particularly sharp in the first half as the team shot at a blistering 62.5 percent clip from the field including a 5-of-9 performance from beyond the arc. Also strong on the glass were the Tigers as they outrebounded the guests by a 19-9 margin in the period and finished the contest with a 44-31 rebounding advantage.

West Alabama closed out the night with a 49.1 percentage from the field.

Remaining sharp coming out of the break, UWA never allowed the Golden Suns to pull any closer than seven points which happened last with 16:05 remaining in the game and UWA holding a 52-45 lead.

The Tigers proceeded to rip off its most impressive run of the night at that point, scoring 18 of the next 23 points to push its advantage out to its biggest of the night at 21 with 7:50 left in the contest. Powell accounted for half of UWA's points during that stretch as she nailed three more long-range shots.

Arkansas Tech chipped away slightly as the game wound down and hit a 3-pointer as time expired to produce the final 85-73 margin.

The strong defensive effort by the Tigers was a stellar showing as the team limited ATU to shoot just 38.7 percent from the field – by far the lowest performance of the season for a squad that had been shooting over 56 percent on the year.

Powell led all scorers in the contest as she scored 25 points while also collecting four steals. Dale chipped in 18, led the team with six assists, and matched Latashia Greer's team-best eight rebounds. LaShandra McCoy scored 11 to round out the double-figure scorers for the Red and White.

Natalia Santos led the visitors as she collected a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards, and Jenny Vining's 22 points were tops on the squad.

West Alabama continues play on Monday as it welcomes Harding to Livingston for a 5:30 p.m. contest. Live stats and a video broadcast will be available at www.uwaathletics.com.