Box Score

SEARCY — Junior Stacey Owens scored 26 points and had 11 rebounds for Harding, but the Lady Bisons suffered a second-half slump and lost 72-66 to the Ouachita Baptist Lady Tigers at the Rhodes Field House on Saturday night.

The Lady Bisons led by 6 points at halftime but struggled to control the ball for the opening 10 minutes of the second half, allowing Ouachita Baptist to go on a 25-6 run and cruise past Harding.

Despite the loss, Harding still qualified for next week's Gulf South Conference Tournament because Henderson State 76-67 loss to Delta State earlier in the day. The Lady Bisons will play West Alabama, the fourth seed from the East Division, in the first round of the tournament. Harding defeated West Alabama 99-54 earlier this season.

Harding was plagued by turnovers early in the second half, losing possession 10 times in the first 10 minutes. Meanwhile, Ouachita Baptist took advantage of the Lady Bison's mistakes and scored 20 points off turnovers in the second half.

“In the second half, it was like we couldn't dribble,” Harding coach Tim Kirby said. “I couldn't understand it. We had stone hands there for a while.”

Domino Miller, who led the Lady Tigers with 21 points, hit a three-pointer to give Ouachita Baptist a 56-40 lead with 9:45 left in the second half.

The Lady Bisons shook off their turnover spell and rallied back in the final minutes. Senior Catherine McMenamy, playing in her final home game at the Rhodes Field House, completed a fast break layup off a steal by sophomore Leah Fugett to cut the lead to 60-55 with 5:12 left, but Ouachita Baptist was able to hold on.

Harding lost earlier in the season to the Lady Tigers 108-104.

“Both times we've played them this year, we thought we let one get away in the end,” Kirby said. “When they'd get out and pressure our guards so closely, I think it got in our head a little bit.”

Harding hit 5 of 12 three-pointers in the first half, with Owens making all three of her attempts behind the three-point line. Sophomore Leah Fugett scored a layup off a pass from junior Kaitlin May to give Harding a 33-25 with 53 seconds left in the first half.

Ouachita Baptist had the final say in the first half, however. Kim Beverly stole the ball, turned and shot a jumper as time expire to narrow Harding's lead to 33-27 at halftime. Kirby said that basket was definitely a topic of discussion during the halftime talk.

Freshman Sierra Rollins was the only other Harding player besides Owens to score more than 10 points, finishing with 11 points.

A'Laeshia Adams scored 20 points for Ouachita Baptist.