RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - Midwestern State's Nolisha Markham enjoyed a career game Wednesday night at Tucker Coliseum.

The junior forward poured in a season-high 22 points and finished off her first double-double as a Mustangs with 13 rebounds before fouling out with 4:50 to play.

But wasn't enough to overcome a tough defensive effort from No. 24 Arkansas Tech as the Golden Suns ran away with a 82-62 win to improve to 11-0.

"If we put two halves together, this would be a different game," MSU coach Noel Johnson said. "They capitalized on our turnovers and that's what a good team does."

The Mustangs enjoyed a decided edge on the glass due in large to the play of Markham and junior forward Aqueelah Watkins who also notched her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds. In all, MSU outrebounded the Golden Suns by a 44-31 margin.

But that wasn't enough to overcome a a sloppy first half.

Arkansas Tech scored 28 points off of 21 turnovers by MSU in the first half as Jenny Vining poured in 20 of her game-high 24 points in the opening half to help the Golden Suns race out to a 50-24 lead at the intermission.

The Mustangs took an early lead after Markham hit her first of two 3-pointers at the 17:40-mark of the first half before feeding Watkins for a layup a minute later to give MSU a 7-6 lead.

But the Golden Suns scored the next 14 points to push the lead to 20-7 after Jessica Weatherford hit a pair of free throws with 11:02 to play.

Markham put back Jazman Patterson's missed baseline jumper to halt the run on the next possession and pull the Mustangs within 11, but it wouldn't get any closer than that.

Arkansas Tech pushed the lead to as many as 27 in the opening half and led by as many as 36 after Anna Baran hit a pair of free throws to give the Golden Suns a 69-33 lead with 11:51 to play.

The Mustangs continued to battle down the stretch and closed the final deficit to 20 after winning the second half, 38-32.

"I'm proud that the girls didn't give up in the second half," Johnson said. "If we would have played the first half the same way, it would have been a different outcome."

Sophomore forward Cierra Thompson scored seven points - all from the free throw line - in just her third start of the season, while senior forward Emily Welborn hit a pair of 3-pointers to finish with six points.

The Mustangs (4-7) enjoy an idle week before picking back up with Lone Star Conference crossover play on Jan. 7 at Texas A&M-Commerce. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.