Box Score

SEARCY­—The Harding Lady Bisons fell behind the #10 Delta State by 17 points midway through the second half and could not recover as the Lady Statesmen claimed a 57-51 victory Thursday night at the Rhodes Field House.

The Lady Bisons fall to 10-3 overall and 1-1 in Gulf South Conference play while Delta State improves to 12-2 and 2-0 in conference.

Delta State led 17-8 midway through the first half when Harding began to close the Lady Statesmen's lead. Kinsey Tucker hit a three-pointer to tie the game 21-21 with 4:38 remaining in the first half. Delta State led 27-24 by halftime.

The Lady Statesmen opened the second half on an 8-0 run to extend their lead to 35-27 while Harding opened the half with four turnovers. Kaitlin May broke the stretch with a three-pointer, but the Lady Statesmen continued to score.

Delta State's lead grew to 49-32 with 9:03 remaining when the Lady Bisons' offense began a late-game surge. Harding closed gap to 52-46 on a pair of free throws from Tucker with less than three minutes left in the second half, but the Lady Statesmen held on for the victory.

Delta State shot just 1-for-20 from behind the three-point arc but made the most of opportunities beneath the basket, collecting 14 offensive rebounds and outscoring Harding 12-4 on second-chance points.

Catherine McMenamy led the Lady Bisons with 12 points, and Lyda added 10 points from the bench. Jacque Fredendall scored eight points and collected a team-high 11 rebounds.

Jennifer Rushing scored a team-high 19 points for Delta State. Brittani Calhoun had 10 points and led the Lady Statesmen with 10 rebounds.

The Lady Bisons will play again on Saturday against Ouachita Baptist at 3 p.m. in Arkadelphia, Ark.