Game Notes
No. 8 Harding (13-0, 5-0 GAC) vs. Ouachita Baptist (3-8, 1-4 GAC)
Location: Arkadelphia, Ark.
When: Saturday
Time: 2 p.m.
Coaches:
Harding – Tim Kirby (154-87, 9th season)
Ouachita Baptist – Garry Crowder (276-205, 18th season)
Live Stats/Live Video – Available on a link at HardingSports.com
Harding
- Harding heads into the game with a 13-0 overall record and after Thursday's win, the Lady Bisons tied the 1996-97 team for the best start in program history. Harding looks to break the record on Saturday.
- The Lady Bisons cracked the top 10 in this week's poll as Harding pulled in the eighth ranking. It's the highest Harding has been ranked in the WBCA poll. The Lady Bisons are one of only seven teams in the top 25 that is still undefeated, five of which rank above Harding.
- Harding is coming off a 92-75 win against Henderson State on Thursday. Kristen Celsor led the Lady Bisons with 36 points which tied for seventh most in Harding history. It was the most since Mindy Napier (1998-02) scored 39 at Lyon in 2000. It was the fourth time this season Celsor has scored 30 or more points. It was also her fourth double-double and the third time she has scored more than 30 points and grabbed more than 10 rebounds this season.
- Kristen Celsor is leading Harding in scoring, averaging 18.9 points which ranks second in the GAC. Celsor has led Harding in scoring in three of the five GAC games. She scored 30 at Southern Nazarene and 31 at Southwestern Oklahoma. Celsor is averaging 25.8 points in GAC action which ranks first.
- Kristen Celsor needs six more field goals to get to 100 this season. Angie Duggar (1993-97) holds the Harding record with 254 field goals in a season. Duggar set the record in the 1996-97 season.
- Harding is outscoring its GAC opponents by 19.2 points which ranks first. It's also 6.2 more points than second place.
- Shana Holmes is averaging two made 3-pointers a game and is averaging 13 points. As a team, Harding ranks second in GAC in 3-pointers made a game with averaging 8.5.
- Harding is averaging 41.7 rebounds per game which is 7.9 more than its opponents. Arielle Saunders leads the Lady Bisons on the boards, averaging 8.8 a game which ranks second in the GAC. Saunders has grabbed 15 rebounds in a game, three times
- Harding's career blocks leader, Saunders, ranks second in the GAC averaging 1.2 per game.
- Junior guard Tabitha Haney is the only active Harding player that has hit over 100 career 3-pointers. Haney has hit 103 career 3-pointers. She reached the mark against Southwestern Oklahoma when she hit three 3-pointers. Other Harding players that are close to the mark are Celsor who has made 88 and Holmes who has made 79.
- Harding ranks third in the GAC in steals with an 11.1 average. Four Lady Bisons rank in the top 10 in the GAC. Senior guard Deshelle Isaac-Boyce ranks fifth and averages 2.1 a game. Freshman guard A'ndrea Haney ranks tied for sixth, averaging two a game and Celsor and Holmes ranked tied for eighth averaging 1.8 steals.
- Harding ranks first in the GAC in scoring defense (59.5), scoring margin (+21.0), field goal percentage (45.2), 3-point field goal percentage (37.9), assists (17.5) and assist/turnover ratio (1.4).
- Celsor needs one more 30-point performance to tie the Harding record for the most 30-point games in a season. Celsor currently has four this season and five in her career. Kymm Alexander (1990-94) and Angie Dugger (1993-97) hold the record for the most in a season with five. Alexander also holds the record for the most in a career with 11. Dugger is second with ten.
Ouachita Baptist
- Ouachita Baptist is located in Arkadelphia, Ark., and has an enrollment of 1,532.
- Ouachita Baptist heads into the game with a 3-8 overall record and a 1-4 GAC record.
- Ouachita Baptist is coming off its first GAC win at Arkansas Tech on Thursday as the Tigers defeated the Golden Suns 72-60. Ouachita Baptist has won its last two games as the Tigers defeated Blue Mountain College 82-52 on Jan. 6.
- It will be the second time Ouachita Baptist has played a ranked team this season. The Tigers fell to then ranked No. 22 Washburn 83-62.
- Ouachita Baptist is 2-3 at home this season.
- Senior guard Nashia James leads the Tigers averaging 15.5 points which ranks eighth in the GAC. James has led Ouachita Baptist in scoring eight times this season.
- James also ranks second in the GAC in steals per game with an average of 2.3.
Series
- Harding leads the series 34-27.
- Harding also holds the series record in Arkadelphia, 15-14.
- Last season in Arkadelphia, Harding won 45-42. Arielle Saunders and Deshelle Isaac-Boyce led the Lady Bisons with eight points. Celsor grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Ouachita Baptist was led by Nashia James who had 10 points. The Tigers led Harding 20-17 at halftime.
