SEARCY – Senior forward Arielle Saunders scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed her 800th career rebound as the 15th-ranked Harding women's basketball team defeated Southwestern Oklahoma 105-69 to open Great American Conference action on Saturday. The Lady Bisons improved to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the GAC.
Saunders captured her third double-double of the season with six offensive and six defensive boards. It also moved her into sixth place all-time (802) at Harding, passing Heather Lawrence (1999-03) who had 795 career rebounds.
The Lady Bisons had four other players in double-figure scoring for the second time this season. Freshman guard Lundon Williams came off the bench and scored a career-high 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers. Freshman forward Sydney Layrock scored 12 points and freshman guard Falan Miller scored 11 points. Both players also came off the bench. Sophomore forward Correy Moyer scored 10 points with two 3-pointers.
Harding had a season-high 51 bench points in the game.
Harding scored over 100 points for the second time this season. The Lady Bisons set a new school record in the 115-84 win over Cameron earlier this season. It is the second time in school history Harding has scored over 100 points two times in a season. The Lady Bisons scored 100 against Lambuth (12/7) and 102 against Arkansas Baptist (12/9) in the 1991-92 season.
Southwestern Oklahoma (1-1, 0-1 GAC) was led by junior guard Jennifer Williams who had 24 points, hitting 9-of-11 free throws. Senior guard Chelsea Bates had 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Harding started out slow as they trailed by eight with 12:15 left in the first half. The Lady Bisons tied the game in the next minute and 16 seconds on two layups by Saunders and a 3-pointer by Miller. The game tied three more times over the next five minutes until Harding went on an 8-0 run to lead 42-32 with 4:01 left in the first. The Lady Bisons continued to build on their lead in the final minutes and led 54-39 at the half.
The Lady Bisons extended their lead by as much as 38 in the second half as they made 18-of-36 buckets. Harding also made 12-of-15 free throws as senior forward Montana Lewis made 6-of-6.
Harding held Southwestern Oklahoma to shooting 31.8 percent (21-of-66) from the field and 8.3 percent (2-of-24) from behind the arc.
The Lady Bisons will half a week off before heading to Canyon, Texas to take part in the Pak-A-Sak Thanksgiving Classic hosted by West Texas A&M. Harding will face Cameron on Nov. 28 at 12:30 p.m., and then face No. 1 West Texas A&M on Nov. 29 at 5 p.m.
