SEARCY – Harding used scoring runs on either side of halftime to pull away from Southern Nazarene and defeat the Crimson Storm 69-53 on Saturday in Great American Conference action at Rhodes Field House.

A late 6-0 Harding run gave the Lady Bisons a 33-32 lead at halftime, and Harding continued to pour it on by starting the second half with a 16-3 run.

"The major difference in the game was our ability to limit their offensive rebounds in the second half," Harding head coach Tim Kirby said. Southern Nazarene had 12 offensive rebounds in the first half but only two in the second half.

Harding's victory was its ninth straight and gave the 25th-ranked Lady Bisons a 13-2 overall record. Harding is tied with Arkansas Tech atop the GAC standing at 9-0 and hosts the Golden Suns on Thursday.

Harding entered the game ranked eighth in NCAA Division II in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just under 35 percent. The Lady Bison defense was even better Saturday, limiting the Crimson Storm to only 29 percent. It was the third game this season that Harding held an opponent below 30 percent.

"We did a great job of forcing them to take tough shots," Kirby said. "You will take a field goal percentage that low every time."

Sophomore guard A'ndi Haney keyed the Lady Bison offense in the second half, scoring 13 of her 15 points after the break. Senior Arielle Saunders led Harding with 16 points and 10 rebounds, her 11th double-double of the season. Freshman Sydney Layrock scored 10 of her 15 points in the first half.

Aminata Fall, the leading scorer in the GAC, had 20 points but shot only 6-of-21 from the field.

Southern Nazarene had only six field goals and shot 25 percent in the second half.

Harding shot 39 percent for the game and made 13-of-14 free throws in the second half to help pull away.

Neither team shot the ball well in the first half. Southern Nazarene hit at a 31 percent clip, missed their last six shots of the half, and did not score in the final 2:35. Harding shot 37 percent and made five of their last eight shots of the half, including layups by Layrock and Montana Lewis and a jumper by Tabitha Haney that gave the Lady Bisons the halftime lead.

Harding has held the lead at halftime in 14 of its 15 games this season.