BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Harding sophomore Sydnie Jones scored a career-high 30 points Sunday in the championship game of the Great American Conference Tournament.
The two most important points came with 3.6 seconds remaining and gave Harding a 75-73 victory over Arkansas Tech at the Bruin Fieldhouse.
The victory pushed Harding to 27-3 overall and earned the Lady Bisons an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament. The announcement of seeding and location will come Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Arkansas Tech fell to 22-7 after suffering its third loss this season to Harding. The Golden Suns are likely to receive an at-large bid to the regional tournament.
Arkansas Tech's Cheyenne North made a layup with 1:27 left to give the Golden Suns a 73-69 lead. The Golden Suns did not score again.
Harding's A'ndrea Haney went coast-to-coast and made a left-handed layup with 1:18 left to cut Tech's lead to two points. Haney had a steal on Tech's next possession, and the Golden Suns fouled Caroline Hogue, who made both free throws and tied the game at 73-73.
With 16 seconds left, Tech's Calli White missed a driving layup. Hogue rebounded and found Riley Rose racing down the court. Rose passed to Peyton Padgett in the left corner. Her attempt at a game-winner was deflected, and Jones came from the far side of the court, stepped in front of a Tech player, pulled down the rebound, spun to her left and laid the game-winning layup off the glass.
Following a timeout, Tech advanced the ball to midcourt. Kelsey McClure took the ball hard to the basket, but her layup missed and Harding claimed its second GAC Tournament championship in three seasons. The Lady Bisons also cut down the nets in 2015.
Jones was 11-of-14 from the field, made 8-of-9 free throws, and had a team-high nine rebounds, including five offensive. Hogue scored 15 points, Haney had 11 and five assists, and Falan Miller scored 10. Haney and Miller both made their 100th career 3-pointer during the game.
McClure was outstanding for Tech, scoring 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting and connecting on all six of her free-throw attempts.
Harding closed the first half on a 19-7 run with Jones scoring 11 of her 17 first-half points in the final 7:25.
Tech, the GAC leader in field-goal percentage, shot 63 percent in the first quarter and led 26-22. The Suns cooled to 38 percent in the second quarter as Harding outscored Tech 23-13 in the period.
Harding was 14-of-16 from the free-throw line in the first half. Tech made their only free-throw attempt.
Jones was named the GAC Tournament Most Valuable Player. Haney and Hogue were named to the All-Tournament Team.
