ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Senior forward Arielle Saunders tied a career-high with 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the 25th ranked Harding women's basketball team to a 70-45 Great American Conference win on Saturday. The Lady Bisons improved to 10-2 on the season and 6-0 in the GAC.
It was Harding's sixth straight win and the fourth of the last five games they have held its opponent to scoring under 50 points.
Saunders, who captured her eighth double-double of the season, became the all-time leader in offensive rebounds in the modern era with 288. She came into the game tied with Heather Lawrence (1999-03) with 283. She also scored 17 of her 25 points in the second half.
Senior guard Montana Lewis had 12 points and nine rebounds and freshman guard Lundon Williams hit two 3-pointers and finished with 10 points.
Ouachita Baptist (4-8, 0-5 GAC) was led by junior guard Breanna Harris who had 12 points. Sophomore forward Katie Kapler added 11 points.
Ouachita Baptist hung around in first half, hitting five 3-pointers as Harding led 34-27 at halftime.
"We have gotten used to teams coming out and hitting some shots on us early," Head Coach Tim Kirby said. "But we did not panic and were able to weather that after they made four of their first five 3s early."
The Lady Bisons did not panic as they came out of the locker room and went on a 12-4 run to lead 48-31 with 11:14 left. Harding extended their lead to 25 with 2:25 left on a 3-pointer by Lundon Williams.
"We challenged our team at halftime to get some stops on defense and limiting them to one tough shot," Kirby said.
Harding battled foul trouble with three of its starters but the bench scored 18 points to keep the Lady Bisons in the lead.
"We are going to get in foul trouble, but we have depth on the bench," Kirby said. "They need to keep getting better, but we are able to weather some of the foul trouble."
Harding had 10 steals in the game as they turned them into 15 points. It was the fourth straight game the Lady Bisons had 10 or more steals.
Harding will have the week off before heading to Durant, Okla., on Saturday to face Southeastern Oklahoma in GAC action at 1 p.m.
