BOX SCORE | BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Arkansas-Monticello turned to its First-Team All-Great American Conference selection, Jordan Goforth, to secure its first GAC Women’s Basketball Championship and the junior responded with nine straight points late to salt away the Cotton Blossoms 63-54 victory against East Central in Thursday’s final quarterfinal contest from the Bruin Fieldhouse.
Up by only two points with just over six minutes remaining, Goforth stretched the lead to seven as she hit a 3-pointer, another jump shot and four free throws over a five-minute span. Conversely, East Central (15-12) went 1-for-7 from the field with a turnover in that span. The Cotton Blossoms (14-12) made 10 of their last 12 free throws down the stretch to earn the win.
Goforth finished with 24 points and seven rebounds. She hit 3-of-5 from the 3-point arc and added three assists in her 37 minutes of play. Tori Nichols added 13 points and Nikki Mullen went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line en route to contributing 11 points.
East Central closed out the first year of the Matt Cole era by shooting only 37.1 percent in the loss. The Tigers’ All-GAC selections – Dilan Webster, Erin Walling and Taylor Fischer – struggled to find the range all night as the trio shot just 13-of-41 from the field. Webster did notch a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cotton Blossom will seek their first finals appearance when they take top seed Harding at 2:15 PM on Saturday on the GACSportsNetwork.com. The Lady Bisons won both contests with the Cotton Blossoms by at least 20 points and have won six straight in the series.