SEARCY – No. 25 Harding held East Central to only one field goal in the final nine minutes of the second half and defeated the Tigers 62-50 on Thursday in Great American Conference play at the Rhodes Field House.
Harding's victory was its eighth straight and kept the Lady Bisons tied with Arkansas Tech for the top spot in the conference standings. Harding improved to 12-2 overall and 8-0 in GAC action.
East Central (10-4, 6-2) lost its second straight game and suffered its first road conference loss of the season.
Harding led 48-46 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game. The Lady Bisons held the Tigers to only 1-of-12 shooting the rest of the way. Harding scored 10 points during the East Central drought and pulled away for the victory.
Arielle Saunders led Harding with 16 points and 12 rebounds and shot 8-of-10 from the field. Sophomore A'ndi Haney scored 12 points and added six rebounds and five assists for the Lady Bisons, who outscored the Tigers 44-20 in the paint.
Janee Garza made five 3-pointers and tied a career high with 15 points to lead East Central. The Tigers shot only 25 percent in the second half and 33 percent for the game.
East Central jumped out to an early lead with Garza hitting three 3-pointers to open the game for the Tigers. A layup by Dilan Webster with 14:02 left in the half gave East Central its largest lead of the half at 15-6.
Harding missed its first three shots but went the rest of the half without missing more than two consecutive and shot 55 percent for the half.
The Lady Bisons tied the game for the first time at 28 on A'ndi Haney's layup. East Central retook the lead on its next trip, but an 11-0 Harding run put the Lady Bisons ahead 39-30. Harding took a 39-31 lead into halftime after East Central had held the lead for more than 15 minutes of the half.
Saunders was 5-for-5 from the field in the first half and had 10 points. After its fast start, East Central made only seven of its last 21 attempts and shot 41 percent for the half.
Harding plays its second of four straight home games Saturday, hosting Southern Nazarene at 1 p.m.
