Harding (18-5, 14-3 GAC) at East Central (15-8, 14-3 GAC)
Location: Ada, Okla.
When: Saturday
Time: 1 p.m.
Coaches:
Harding – Tim Kirby (188-95, 10th season)
East Central – Matt Cole (15-8, 1st season)
Live Stats/Live Audio/Live Video– Available on a link at HardingSports.com

HARDING                                    

- Harding will play its final regular season game in Oklahoma on Saturday when it travels to East Central for a 1 p.m., tip-off.

- Harding (18-5, 14-3 GAC) sits tied with Arkansas Tech for first place in the GAC standings. The Golden Suns, who had a one game advantage in the standings, fell to East Central on Thursday. Harding has already sealed a spot in the GAC Tournament held in Bartlesville, Oklahoma March 5-8.

- The Lady Bisons were ranked sixth in the first NCAA Division II Central Region Rankings released on Wednesday. All of Harding's 22 games are considered regional games according to the NCAA. Eight teams will make the NCAA Central Region Tournament held March 13-16. Three automatic bids will be awarded to the three conference tournament champions (Great American, MIAA and Northern Sun) and five teams will receive at-large berths based on the rankings. Wednesday's rankings is the first of three before the selection show which will be announced at 10 p.m. Eastern time, Sunday, March 8 via web stream on NCAA.com.

- Harding is coming off a 74-73 win at Southern Nazarene on Thursday. Down one point with .04 seconds, senior forward Arielle Saunders made two free throws to give the Lady Bisons the win. Saunders finished with a game-high 29 points, hitting 11 field goals and making 7-of-10 from the free throw line. She also picked up her 15th double-double of the season, grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. A'ndrea Haney made three 3-pointers and finished with 17 points and senior forward Montana Lewis went 6-of-11 from the field and scored 14 points.

- The Lady Bisons are led on the season by Saunders who ranks sixth in the GAC in scoring, averaging 16.2 points and ranks second in the GAC in rebounds, averaging 11.1 per game. She also ranks sixth in the GAC in field goal percentage, shooting 53.6 percent from the field.

- Saunders, who is the all-time blocks leader at Harding, needs one more block to get to 200 in her career. Saunders has 1,238 career points and needs three more points to move into ninth all-time at Harding. She is also nine field goals away from making 500 in her career.

- Montana Lewis also averages in double figures for Harding. She is second on the team in points, averaging 11.3 per game and second on the team in rebounds averaging 5.8 per game. Lewis scored her 1,000 career point on Saturday to become the 15th player at Harding to reach 1,000 points. She also needs three steals to get to 100 in her career.

- After her 17 point performance on Thursday, sophomore guard A'ndrea Haney is now averaging 10.0 points per game.  Haney is second in the GAC in assists averaging 3.8 per game and is fourth in the GAC in steals averaging 1.9 per game. She also needs 14 points to reach 500 in her career.

- Harding has hit 168 3-pointers this season which ranks fourth in the GAC. Freshman guard Lundon Williams leads the Lady Bisons with 33. Montana Lewis is close behind with 29. The Lady Bisons also rank third in the GAC in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 35.6 percent. Williams is shooting 43.4 percent from behind the 3-point line to rank second in the GAC. Corry Moyer ranks fourth in the GAC, shooting 40.3 percent and Lewis ranks eighth shooting 38.2 percent.

- When the Lady Bisons commit 15 or fewer fouls in a game they are 7-0. In Harding's five losses, it has committed at least 18 fouls in the game.

EAST CENTRAL

- East Central heads into the game with a 15-8 overall record and an 11-6 GAC record. The Tigers are currently in third place in the GAC standings after the 66-56 win over Arkansas Tech on Thursday.

- In the win on Thursday, East Central was led by Erin Walling who had 17 points. Walling has led the Tigers in scoring the last two games. Kendal Rogers also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds for East Central.

- The Tigers are led on the season by Dilan Webster who averages 13.9 points to rank second in the GAC. She also averages 5.8 rebounds. Taylor Fischer averages 11.5 points and Walling averages 10.7 points.

- Fischer ranks third in the GAC in 3-point field goal percentage shooting 40.4 percent from behind the arc. She has made 46 this season which is the third most among those ranked in the top 10.

- East Central has three players that rank in the top 10 in the GAC in minutes played. Senior Janee Garza ranks third and averages 34.1 minutes per game. Walling ranks fourth averaging 33.7 minutes and Fischer ranks ninth averaging 33.2 minutes.

- The Tigers rank first in the GAC in scoring defense as they have held their opponents to averaging 59.5 points per game. They also rank first in turnover margin (+3.87) and assist/turnover ratio (1.2).

SERIES

- Harding leads the series against East Central 7-6.

- The Lady Bisons are 1-5 in Ada, Oklahoma

- When the two teams met earlier this season in Searcy, Harding won 62-50. Arielle Saunders captured a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Saunders also made 8-of-10 from the field. A'ndrea Haney finished with 12 points, making 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Janee Garza led East Central with 15 points, hitting five 3-pointers. The Lady Bisons shot 46.4 percent from the field in the game (26-of-56) and held the Tigers to shooting 33.3 percent (19-of-57)