BETHANY, Okla. – Senior Kristen Celsor had 30 points and 11 rebounds and junior Montana Lewis added 19 points to lead Harding to an 80-64 victory in Great American Conference play over Southern Nazarene on Saturday at the Sawyer Center.

Harding improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2008 in winning its GAC opener. Southern Nazarene lost its third straight and fell to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

"They battled us the whole game and made some runs," Harding head coach Tim Kirby said.

Kaylee Wiedower made a free throw at the 6:04 mark of the first half that gave the Lady Bisons a 33-20 lead, their largest of the first half. But Harding scored only one more field goal in the first half, a 3-pointer by Shana Holmes with 1:14 left. During that time Southern Nazarene went on an 11-3 run that cut Harding's halftime lead to 36-31.

"In the last five minutes of the first half, I was disappointed with our shot selection," Kirby said. "We should have kept going to the basket, but we were content to shoot too many threes."

The Lady Bisons made the adjustment at halftime, and it was a low-post play in the second half that helped Harding pull away.

Southern Nazarene cut the Harding lead to 42-40 with 14:56 left. The Lady Bisons scored the next five points, and Lewis hit a layup and was fouled by Crimson Storm forward Ashley Gorman, who was then charged with a technical foul. Lewis made both technical free throws and Harding led 51-40.

The Lady Bisons led by at least nine the rest of the way and used an 11-2 run to extend their lead to 18 points at 64-46 with 5:48 left. Senior Deshelle Isaac-Boyce, who had 11 points in the game, scored seven during the run.

Celsor made 11-of-19 shots, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and connected on 5-of-8 free throws. It was the second 30-point game of her career. She scored a career-high 33 against Missouri Southern in 2012.

"Kristen got going by hitting a couple of threes early," Kirby said. "When she does that they have to come out and guard her, and she was able to get some layups inside."

Harding outscored Southern Nazarene 44-33 in the second half.

"It was two totally different halves," Kirby said. "You can live and die by the three, and we don't want to die by it when we have post players as good as ours."

Callee Cox led Southern Nazarene with 17 points, hitting 4-of-11 from 3-point range, and Kristin Miller added 14 for the Crimson Storm. Southern Nazarene played without Aminata Fall, who leads the GAC in rebounds and blocked shots. Fall missed the game due to a team-issued suspension.

Harding will return to action Tuesday against Christian Brothers in Memphis. Tipoff is at 5 p.m.