BOX SCORE || BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - After seeing a 21-point second-half lead dwindle to a single point, Southwestern Oklahoma State's Taryn Sayama drove from the left side and scoring a decisive lay-up and the Lady Bulldogs hold on for an 87-83 win against East Central in Saturday's first Great American Conference Women's Championship opening semifinal from Bruin Fieldhouse.
The Lady Bulldogs (18-10) earned their third trip in as many years to the GAC Tournament final. They claimed the inaugural title in 2012 by defeating Harding. They lost to Arkansas Tech in overtime last year.
Sayama led SWOSU with 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting. First-Team All-GAC guard Michelle Fisher added 18. Kylie Boggess pulled down 10 rebounds and has collected 18 in the Lady Bulldogs two games in Bartlesville.
Dilan Webster scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half as East Central (19-9) lost in the semifinals for the second-straight year.
The Lady Bulldogs will eye their second GAC Tournament crown against a familiar finals foe. They will take on Harding or Arkansas Tech at 3:30 p.m. SWOSU split with the Golden Suns and and dropped both regular-season contests to the top-seeded Lady Bisons. The All GAC Basketball Championship contests stream on
GACSportsNetwork.com.