ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Harding women's basketball team came up short on Thursday night as they fell to Ouachita Baptist 80-76 in Great American Conference action. The Lady Bisons fall to 9-5 on the season and 2-2 in the GAC.

Sophomore guard Katy Preaus hit a 3-pointer to give the Lady Bisons a 59-41 lead with 9:49 left in the second half. Ouachita Baptist then began their comeback. The Lady Tigers went on a 23-4 run and took their first lead (63-62) with 1:53 left. The two teams battled hard in the final minutes until freshman guard Tabitha Haney hit a free throw to give Harding a 68-66 lead with 10 seconds remaining. Ouachita Baptist once again battled back when Tamara Robinson hit a jumper in the paint with five seconds remaining to force overtime. Harding had three players foul out in regulation.

The Lady Bisons jumped out to a five-point lead with 3:19 left in overtime. The Lady Tigers quickly bounced back to cut the lead to one. Harding missed their final four shots in the closing minutes which allowed Ouachita Baptist to comeback. They hit a jumper and made 3-of-4 free throws to seal the victory. HU was 2-of-9 from the field in overtime.

The Lady Bisons were led by freshman guard Montana Lewis who had a career-high 20 points. Lewis was perfect from the free throw line hitting 6-of-6. Senior guard Sierra Rollins made 14-of-19 free throws and finished with 18 points.

Harding outrebounded Ouachita Baptist 53-31. Leading the way was Rollins who tied a career-high with 17. Senior forward Cherilyn McMenamy also tied a career-high with 11.

Ouachita Baptist was led by A'Laeshia Adams who made 16-of-20 free throws and finished with 32 points. Nashia James added 18 and Robinson had 11 for the Lady Tigers.

OBU made 35-of-47 free throws in the game (74.5 percent).  

Harding will be back in action on Saturday as they host Southeastern Oklahoma State at 2 p.m., at the Rhodes Field House.