Game Notes
Live Stats - Incarnate Word
Live Stats - St. Edward's
SEARCY – The Harding women's basketball hits the road this weekend traveling to Texas to face two tough opponents. Friday the Lady Bisons will face Incarnate Word at 5:30 p.m., in San Antonio and then on Sunday Harding will face St. Edward's at 1 p.m., in Austin. The Lady Bisons look to pull their record above .500 on the season as they are 3-4 through seven games.
COACHES: Harding is coached by Tim Kirby, who enters his fifth season at the helm of the Lady Bisons. Kirby has a 72-49 career record. Kirby took over the Lady Bison program before the 2005-06 season after serving 12 seasons as the Harding's men's basketball assistant.
Incarnate Word is coached by Angela Lawson, who enters her tenth season as head coach of the Cardinals. She has compiled a 128-125 record at Incarnate Word.
St. Edward's is coached by Jennifer White, who enters her sixth season as head coach of the Hilltoppers. White has compiled a 55-82 record at St. Edward's.
THE LADY BISONS: Harding is coming off a 3-0 home stand this past week. In their last outing, the Lady Bisons defeated Gulf South Conference East Division foe West Alabama, 84-51. So far this season the Lady Bisons are 2-1 against GSC East Division Teams after defeating West Georgia and losing to West Florida. Sophomore Lindsey Root led all scoring in the game with 19 points, hitting 5-of-8 from behind the three-point line.
The Harding bench has really contributed this season, averaging 30 points per game for the Lady Bisons. Through seven games, the Lady Bisons have had seven players come off the bench.
During the three-game winning streak, Harding has defeated their opponents by an average of 33 points.
The Lady Bisons are averaging 13.4 steals per game, ranking them second in the GSC. Junior Bailey St. Clair leads the GSC in steals per game with an average of 3.9.
St. Clair leads the Lady Bisons, averaging 15.9 points per game which ranks her eighth in the GSC. She also averages 6.7 rebounds per game, ranking her 13th in the GSC. St. Clair is shooting a team high 61.3 percent from the floor, which is sixth in the GSC.
Senior Stacey Owens is the other Lady Bison that averages double-figure scoring, averaging 12.6 points per game.
Harding returns five players from the 2008-09 season. The Lady Bisons have eight new faces this year, four of them are transfers. Six of the Harding newcomers have already made their debut for the Lady Bisons.
THE CARDINALS: Incarnate Word is 1-1 on the season against GSC teams. The Cardinals defeated Arkansas-Monticello, 59-52 but lost to Ouachita Baptist by one point, 59-58. Both teams were picked to finish ahead of Harding in the GSC preseason coaches' poll. OBU was picked second and UAM was picked third.
The Cardinals have a 4-2 overall record this season. Incarnate Word has three players averaging double-figure scoring; leading the way is Nia Torru who averages 13.3 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game.
THE HILLTOPPERS: St. Edward's is still looking for their first win of the season, after going 0-6 to start the season.
The Hilltoppers have three players that average double-figure scoring, leading the way is Sophia Holguin who averages 17.5 points per game and also averages 5.5 rebounds a game. Kelli Payton is second on the team averaging 13.8 points per game. Sara Head averages a double-double with 11.8 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game.
SERIES: Harding is facing Incarnate Word for only the second time. Last season, the Lady Bisons defeated the Cardinals 73-69 in Searcy.
Harding holds a 3-1 series lead against St. Edward's. The Lady Bisons have won the last three contests. Last season, the Lady Bisons defeated the Hilltoppers in overtime, 91-87.
