Box Score

SEARCY — Junior Kaitlin May hit a three-pointer with 26 seconds remaining to lead the Harding Lady Bisons to a 77-76 comeback victory over the Henderson State Lady Reddies at the Rhodes Field House on Thursday night.

Harding (15-6, 2-6 Gulf South Conference) trailed by 11 points with 5:28 left in the second half, but the Lady Bisons outscored Henderson State 15-3 in the final minutes to pull out the victory.

Although the Lady Bisons led 37-34 at halftime, Henderson State (9-11, 3-5) retook the lead midway through the second half. Trenia Barbee scored her only three-pointer of the night to give the Lady Reddies a 73-62 lead with 5:28 remaining.

Harding still trailed by five points with a minute remaining, but junior Stacey Owens and sophomore Leah Fugett drove layups on consecutive possessions to cut the lead to 75-74 with 41 seconds left.

That was a good finish; our girls kept battling,” Harding Coach Tim Kirby said. “It's the same sermon every time we talk — at timeouts, halftime, before the game — we've got to forget the last possession, and we've got to play the next one.”

Henderson State's Chanlee Bottoms, who finished with 15 points, was fouled and made only one of her two attempts to give Henderson State a 2-point lead.

On Harding's next possession, Leah Fugett passed the ball out to May, who had missed her first three three-pointer attempts in the game. May didn't miss on her fourth try though, hitting a clean three-point strike to put Harding ahead 77-76 with 26 seconds remaining.

Christina Hall committed a turnover on the Lady Reddies next possession when she threw the ball out of bounds into Henderson State's bench with four seconds left. May was fouled, missed her free throws, but got the rebound. She passed to freshman Sierra Rollins, who held the ball until time expired.

Owens led the Lady Bisons with 17 points and 8 rebounds, and senior Ashley Anderson added 12 points. Fugett had 11 points and 8 rebounds. Rollins scored 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting.

Danyelle Harris led Henderson State with 18 points.

“That's just a tough matchup because they put five guards on the floor and our big people have to be able to cover them,” Kirby said. “They'll get some cheap baskets because it's hard to rotate around.”

Harding, a team that has benefitted most of the season from the three-point line, struggled to score from long range on Thursday. The Lady Bisons were 3 of 22 shooting (13.6 percent), including 1 of 13 in the first half. Henderson State was not hesitant about taking three-pointers either, making 8 of 26 (30.8 percent).

The Lady Bisons made up for its three-point performance by enjoying success on the free-throw line. Harding was 22 of 30 (73.3 percent), making almost as many shots as Henderson State took as a team. Henderson State was 12 of 23 (52.2 percent).

Harding will have a rare Saturday off during conference season before hosting Ecclesia in a non-conference game Monday at 5:30 p.m.