Postgame Intervew with Coach Kirby
BETHANY, Okla. – The Harding women's basketball team shot 63.0 percent from the field in the first half and went on to defeat Southern Nazarene 82-60 in Great American Conference action on Thursday.
All five of Harding's starters finished in double-figure scoring. Sophomore forward Sydney Layrock captured a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard A'ndrea Haney had 16 points, making 7-of-10 free throws. Sophomore guard Lundon Williams made two 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. Senior guard Kaylee Wiedower and sophomore guard Falan Miller each had 10 points.
Abby Boyd led Southern Nazarene with 13 points, making three 3-pointers.
RECORDS
Harding improves to 12-6 overall and 10-4 in the GAC. Southern Nazarene falls to 4-13 overall and 3-11 in the GAC. It was the Crimson Storm's fifth straight loss. Lady Bisons stay in sole possession of second place in the GAC standings. Arkansas Tech sits in first place with a perfect 14-0 GAC record.
FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
Harding led 22-14 after the end of the first quarter. Lundon Williams made two 3-pointers and had eight points. Southern Nazarene shot 25 percent in the quarter as it made four baskets, three being from behind the arc.
SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
Southern Nazarene stayed close as Harding took a 47-37 lead into the locker room. The Lady Bisons outscored the Crimson Storm 25-23 in the quarter. Sydney Layrock had six points for Harding and Kaylee Wiedower and A'ndrea Haney each had five including a 3-pointer. Southern Nazarene made 9-of-18 shots and 3-of-6 from behind the 3-point line.
THIRD QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
Harding started to pull away as it led 71-47 at the end of the third quarter. The Lady Bisons had 15 rebounds in the quarter led by Sydney Layrock who had seven. She also had seven points. Harding went 8-of-9 from the free throw line and held Southern Nazarene to only four buckets.
FOURTH QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
Neither team shot well in the fourth quarter. Southern Nazarene outscored Harding 13-11. Each team made three field goals. The Crimson Storm made 7-of-7 free throws and had 12 rebounds. Southern Nazarene finished the game making 2-of-12 shots.
TEAM/INDIVIDUAL STATS
Harding finished the game shooting 50.0 percent from the field, making 27 field goals and 10 3-pointers. It was the eighth time this season it has made 10 or more 3-pointers in a game. The Lady Bisons have won all but one of those games.
Harding held Southern Nazarene to shooting 31.3 percent (20-of-64) from the field. The Crimson Storm made eight 3-pointers and 12-of-13 free throws.
It was Sydney Layrock's fourth double-double of the season. Her last one came Dec. 5 against Oklahoma Baptist when she had 25 points and 15 rebounds.
Harding had 12 steals in the game, led by Falan Miller who had a career-high of six.
Each team had 37 rebounds in the game.
UP NEXT
Harding will play its second game of a four-game road trip on Saturday when it travels to Shawnee, Oklahoma to face Oklahoma Baptist at 1 p.m.
