Harding (21-6, 16-4 GAC) vs. Arkansas-Monticello (14-12, 11-9 GAC)
Location: Bartlesville, Okla.
When: Saturday
Time: 2:15 p.m.
Coaches:
Harding – Tim Kirby (191-96, 10th season)
Arkansas-Monticello – Tanya Ray (25-55, 3rd season)
Live Stats/Live Audio/Live Video– Available on a link at HardingSports.com

HARDING                                    

- Harding, who captured a share of the Great American Conference Regular Season Championship last Saturday, will be the No. 1 seed in the GAC Tournament held in Bartlesville, Oklahoma March 5-8. The Lady Bisons will play No. 5 seed Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday at 2:15 p.m.

- Harding is 1-0 against No. 5 seeds in the GAC Tournament. The last time the Lady Bisons faced a No. 5 seed was in the 2012 tournament when Harding defeated Henderson State 78-52.

- Harding holds a 6-3 record in the GAC Tournament. It is the second time the Lady Bisons have been the No. 1 seed. Harding has reached the finals two times and has made at least the semifinals since the conference was formed in 2011. Southwestern Oklahoma has been the Lady Bisons kryptonite in the GAC Tournament. The Bulldogs have knocked Harding out of the tournament each of the last three years. 

- Harding won its 21th game of the season on Thursday when it defeated Southern Arkansas 80-48 in the opening round of the GAC Tournament. It is the second straight year the Lady Bisons have won 20 games. It is the seventh time in Harding's 31 years they have won at least 21 games in a season.

- In the win over the Lady Muleriders, Harding was led by its bench as it scored 38 of the Lady Bisons 80 points. Sophomore forward Correy Moyer led the way with 16 points, making three 3-pointers. Harding made 12 3-pointers in the game which tied a season high. It was also the seventh time this season, the Lady Bisons have held its opponents to under 50 points and it was the fourth time holding an opponent below 30 percent shooting.

- Three Harding women's basketball players were named All-Great American Conference on Wednesday. Senior forward Arielle Saunders was named 1st Team All-GAC, senior forward Montana Lewis was 2nd Team, and sophomore guard A'ndrea Haney was honorable mention All-GAC. Saunders was also named GAC Player of the Year. The Lady Bisons have had at least two All-GAC honorees in each of their four seasons in the conference and had four last season.

- The Lady Bisons were ranked fifth in the first NCAA Division II Central Region Rankings released on Wednesday. All of Harding's 26 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 final one before the selection show which will be announced at 9 p.m. Central Time, Sunday, March 8 via web stream on NCAA.com.

- The Lady Bisons are led on the season by senior forward Arielle Saunders who ranks sixth in the GAC in scoring, averaging 16.9 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 52.7 percent from the field.

- Saunders has 1,320 career points and needs 20 more points to move into eighth all-time at Harding. She is only the third player in Harding history to get to 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Saunders also needs seven assists to reach 300 in her career. She currently ranks eighth all-time at Harding in assists and needs 15 more to move into seventh.

- Saunders has 18 double-doubles as she recently past Heather Lawrence (1999-03) for the most in a season in the NCAA era. Lawrence had 15 in the 2002-03 season. Saunders has recorded 43 double-doubles in her career which is 18 more than second place Lawrence who had 25 in her career. Three times this season Saunders has had 10 or more points, 10 or more rebounds and five or more assists.

- Montana Lewis also averages in double figures for Harding. She is second on the team in points, averaging 10.7 per game and second on the team in rebounds averaging 5.8 per game. Lewis needs 33 more points to move into 12th place all-time at Harding. She currently has 1,043 points.  Lewis picked up her 100th career steal in the game against Southern Arkansas on Thursday.

- Sophomore guard A'ndrea Haney is third in the GAC in assists averaging 3.5 per game and is fourth in the GAC in steals averaging 2.1 per game. If Haney gets the start on Saturday it will be her 60th career start at Harding.

- Senior guard Tabitha Haney needs two more 3-pointers to reach 150 in her career. She would be fifth player in Harding history to accomplish the feat. Haney currently sits in fifth place all-time at Harding with 148. She needs nine more to move into fifth place and pass Kinsey Tucker (2004-08) who had 156 in her career.

- The Lady Bisons have hit 198 3-pointers this season which ranks third in the GAC and ranks fifth all-time at Harding in a season. It would only be the fifth time Harding has made 200 3-pointers in a season. The Lady Bisons set the mark last season making 249.

- Freshman guard Lundon Williams leads the Lady Bisons with 41 3-pointers. Montana Lewis and Correy Moyer are close behind with 31. The Lady Bisons also rank third in the GAC in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 35.5 percent. Williams is shooting 45.1 percent from behind the 3-point line to rank first in the GAC. Corry Moyer ranks fourth in the GAC, shooting 38.8 percent and Lewis ranks tenth shooting 36.5 percent.

ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO

- Arkansas-Monticello heads into the game with a 14-12 overall record and earned the No. 5 seed going 11-9 during GAC play this season.

- The Cotton Blossoms have won two of their last three games, including a 63-54 win over No. 4 seed East Central to open the GAC Tournament. Junior Jordan Goforth led Arkansas-Monticello with 24 points, making 8-of-18 field goals, including three 3-pointers. Tori Nichols added 13 points and junior Nikki Mullen made 9-of-10 free throws to finish with 11 points.

- Goforth and Mullen were both named All-GAC on Wednesday. Goforth was named to the first team and Mullen was named honorable mention.

- Arkansas-Monticello is led on the season by Goforth who averages 18.1 points to rank fifth in the GAC.

- The Cotton Blossoms rank third in the GAC in scoring defense, only allowing its opponents to score 61.8 points per game. They rank first in the GAC in 3-point field goal percentage defense, only allowing its opponents to shoot 36.6 percent from behind the arc.

- Goforth leads the GAC in free throw percentage, shooting 90.9 percent from the foul line. She also ranks third in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 40.2 percent. Goforth leads the GAC in minutes played, averaging 36.2 minutes per game.

- Mullen ranks fifth in the GAC in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 38.6 percent from behind the arc. Mullen is second in the GAC in minutes played, averaging 34.9 minutes per game.

- Sophomore forward Tori Nichols has done the dirty work for Arkansas-Monticello this season. She leads the team and ranks ninth in the GAC in rebounds per game averaging 7.0. Nichols also ranks second in the GAC in blocked shots, averaging 2.3 per game.

SERIES

- It will be the first time the teams have met in a conference tournament.

- The series is tied at 30 apiece.

- The Lady Bisons won both meetings this season. Harding won the first game in Monticello, Arkansas 69-49 and then won 82-58 in Searcy.  

- Against the Cotton Blossoms this season, the Lady Bisons were led by Arielle Saunders who averaged 18.0 points and 15.5 rebounds. She also had six blocks and six steals in the series. Montana Lewis averaged 12.0 points and shot 52.0 percent from the field. As a team, Harding averaged 22.0 more points than Arkansas-Monticello. The Lady Bisons also shot 52.8 percent from the field and 47.2 percent from behind the 3-point line. Harding averaged 8.5 3-points and 39.0 rebounds which was 15 more than the Cotton Blossoms averaged.

- In the two games, Arkansas-Monticello was led by Nelsha Peterson who averaged 15.0 points and 5.5 rebounds. Jordan Goforth averaged 13.5 points and 3.0 rebounds. The Cotton Blossoms shot 34.9 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from behind the arc.