RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Harding captured its fourth consecutive victory and remained unbeaten at home with a win over Henderson State to highlight Saturday’s Great American Conference women’s basketball contests.
ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 93, OUACHITA BAPTIST 81
MONTICELLO, Ark. – Behind the 33-point individual scoring performance by Alex Hart, Arkansas-Monticello (6-12, 2-6 GAC) collected a 93-81 win over Ouachita Baptist (11-7, 4-4 GAC) at home on Saturday. Hart finished the afternoon with the second-highest individual scoring total in the GAC this season after making 8-of-12 shots from the field, including 5-of-7 from three-point range. She finalized her scoring total by sinking 12-of-14 free-throw attempts, while also collecting a game-high seven assists and four rebounds. OBU outscored UAM 48-43 in the first half, but the Cotton Blossoms responded by shooting 50 percent from the field in the second half, while holding the Lady Tigers to just 31.4 percent. UAM outscored OBU 50-33 in the second half. In addition to Hart’s totals, UAM also received a 22-point performance from Chelsea Johnson, who also totaled a game-high 14 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Candace Virgadamo added 19 points for UAM. Tamara Robinson and Nashia James led OBU with 15 points each.
ARKANSAS TECH 92, SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 63
MAGNOLIA, Ark. – 13th-ranked Arkansas Tech (13-3, 5-3 GAC) had a double-digit lead in the first five minutes of the first half, eventually leading to a lop-sided 92-63 road-victory over Southern Arkansas (2-16, 2-6GAC) on Saturday at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center. After trailing by as much as 18 points in the opening period, the Lady Muleriders used a 13-2 scoring run to get back to within single-digits with 9:33 remaining in the half. The Golden Suns outscored SAU 29-9 throughout the rest of the half to take a 23-point lead into the locker room at halftime. ATU held a double-digit lead for the entirety of the second half, leading by as much as 31 points on two different occasions. SAU’s Kmaria Hobbs collected a game-high 25 points on a 10-of-17 field goal shooting and 5-of-8 free-throw shooting. ATU had five scorers reach double-digits, led by Katie Horsman, who had 16 points. Samanta Ludwig added a double-double of 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
HARDING 66, HENDERSON STATE 49
SEARCY, Ark. – Harding (13-5, 6-2 GAC) extended its streak to four consecutive victories and held on to sole possession of second place in the GAC standings with a 66-49 win over Henderson State (11-7, 4-4 GAC) at home on Saturday. The Lady Bisons held the Lady Reddies to just 18 points in the first half and shot 50 percent in the second half to keep their record at home inside Rhodes Field House unblemished at 8-0 on the season. The Lady Bisons led for the final 15 minutes of the first half, grabbing an 11-point lead at halftime on a layup from Arielle Saunders to cap an 8-0 run over the previous three minutes. HU maintained a double-digit lead throughout the entire second half, holding as much as an 18-point lead with 1:24 remaining in regulation. HU shot 47.1 percent from the field, led by Cherilyn McMenamy’s game-high 20 points in 30 minutes off the bench. The Lady Reddies were led in scoring by Aungelique Sledge, who made 6-of-12 shots from the field, including two three-pointers for 14 points. With the loss, HSU has now suffered four consecutive losses after starting the conference portion of the schedule with four consecutive victories.
SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE 83, EAST CENTRAL 66
DURANT, Okla. – A 20-point lead at halftime helped Southeastern Oklahoma State (8-10, 4-4 GAC) capture its fourth conference victory of the season in an 83-66 win over East Central (4-14, 2-6 GAC) at home on Saturday inside the Bloomer Sullivan Arena. After a back-and-forth seven minutes, Southeastern’s 57.1 first-half shooting allowed the Savage Storm to grab a double-digit lead with 9:33 remaining in the opening quarter and a 49-29 lead at halftime on a basket by Nikki Nester. The Savage Storm slumped in the second half, only making 8-of-27 attempts, but the Lady Tigers were never able to cut SOSU’s lead to single-digits. The closest ECU came to SOSU in the second half was 68-58following a 10-1 scoring run capped by a three-pointer from Ashley Robinson. Southeastern had four scorers reach double-figures, led by Ashley Hobbs with 12. All five of ECU’s starters reached double-digits in scoring, led by Kodi Morrison with 12.