Tweet #theGAC  BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Southwestern Oklahoma State eliminated Harding from the Great American Conference Women’s Basketball Championships with a 70-42 victory in Saturday’s opening semifinal contest from Bruin Fieldhouse.
 
The Lady Bulldogs (29-1) outscored the Lady Bisons (21-9) by 23 points in the second half to extend their win streak to 29. They held the Lady Bisons to just 34.0 percent shooting and a minuscule 11.1 percent clip from the 3-point arc. Southwestern Oklahoma State registered a GAC Championship single-game record with 17 steals in forcing a total of 21 turnovers.
 
In the opening quarter, SWOSU jumped out to 21-8 lead. The Lady Bulldogs forced 10 turnovers before committing one of their own. Their offense sputtered late in the second quarter as Harding cut a 15-point deficit to five by intermission.
 
SWOSU pushed the lead back to 16 by the end of the third quarter as they went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Harding did not attempt a free throw in the quarter. The 28-point margin represented the third-largest margin in the semifinal round of the GAC Women’s Basketball Championships.
 
Bethany Franks tied GAC Championship single-game individual record for steals and she collected seven. Offensively, she contributed 12 points and she pulled down nine rebounds. GAC Player of the Year Hayden Priddy scored a game-high 19 points. Taylor Hedrick hit 6-of-11 shots to finish with 16 points. Hailey Tucker, who suffered an ankle injury late in the first half, added 12 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and three steals.
 
Amanda Kearney and Cheyenne Brown reached double figures for the Lady Bisons. Kearney scored 11 while Brown added 10 points and eight rebounds.
 
With the win, the Lady Bulldogs will take on Arkansas Tech or Southern Nazarene for the title at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. The Bulldogs own a 2-2 record all-time in GAC Championship finals – winning in 2012 and 2014, losing in 2013 and 2016. During the regular season, SWOSU registered two double-digit wins against the Golden Suns. Against the Crimson Storm the Lady Bulldogs won by 29 in Weatherford and by six in Bethany.