BOX SCORE

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – East Central utilized a 26-9 run to close out the first half en route to an 81-69 victory against Ouachita Baptist in the final Great American Conference Women’s Basketball Championship quarterfinal contest, on Thursday, from the Bruin Fieldhouse.
 
East Central (19-8) quickly built on its first-half run and increased the lead to 23 before Ouachita Baptist cut into the margin over the closing minutes. The East Central bench dominated Ouachita Baptist’s reserves as they outscored OBU’s bench by a 46-6 margin.
 
Lindsay McCown headed up the bench output by scoring a team-high 19 points. Kodi Morrison added 16 points. The pair combined to make 11-of-16 from the field. None of the nine ECU Lady Tigers that appeared in the game played fewer than 16 minutes or more than 28. ECU also controlled the rebounding game, outrebounding Ouachita Baptist, 53-38.
 
Monica Williams led Ouachita Baptist (17-10) with 36 points, the top scoring mark in the GAC this season. Williams and Nashia James scored 33 of the Tigers’ 40 second-half points.
 
East Central advanced to Saturday’s semifinals where they will face Arkansas Tech at 2:30 p.m. The Lady Tigers split with the Golden Suns during the regular season. They won in Ada, Okla. by holding the Golden Suns to 29.3 percent shooting on Dec. 6. Arkansas Tech topped ECU, 78-63, in the regular-season finale to clinch the outright GAC regular-season title.