SEARCY – Senior forward Arielle Saunders had 23 points to lead the 20th-ranked Harding women's basketball team to a 66-48 Great American Conference win over Henderson State on Saturday at the Rhodes Field House. The Lady Bisons improved to 7-2 on the season and 4-0 in the GAC.

Saunders hit 9-of-15 shots and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. She also reached a career mile stone as she scored her 1,000 career point in the game. She joins 13 other Lady Bisons that have scored over 1,000 points in their career. Most recently Kristen Celsor (2010-14) passed the mark at the end of the 2012-13 season and finished fifth all-time at Harding with 1,569 points. Angie Dugger (1993-97) is the career scoring leader with 2,369 points.

Freshman forward Sydney Layrock came off the bench and scored 12 points and sophomore guard A'ndrea Haney added 10 points.

Henderson State (2-8, 0-5 GAC) was led by senior guard Aungelique Sledge who had 18 points and hit three 3-pointers.

After a 6-0 Henderson State start, Harding went on a 29-2 run and forced the Reddies to miss 16-of-17 shots. The Lady Bisons went on to lead 36-21 at halftime.

Harding carried its momentum into the second half as they started with a 13-0 run and led by as much as 30 with 11:18 left on a freshman guard Falan Miller layup.

The Lady Bisons scored 50 of their 66 points in the paint. It is only the second time this season Harding has scored over 50 points in the paint. The Lady Bisons scored 54 against Cameron (115-84) in the second game of the season.

Harding shot 43 percent in the game (27-of-63) and held Henderson State to shooting 30 percent (18-of-59). It is the fifth time this season the Lady Bisons have held their opponent to shooting below 35 percent from the field.

Harding will play its final game before the Christmas break on Thursday as they host Northwestern Oklahoma at 5:30 p.m., in GAC action at the Rhodes Field House.