Skip To Main Content

Harding University Athletics

Women's Basketball
63
Ouachita Baptist OUA 0-1,0-1 GAC
66
Winner Harding Hard 5-2,5-2 GAC
Ouachita Baptist OUA
0-1,0-1 GAC
63
Final
66
Harding Hard
5-2,5-2 GAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Ouachita Baptist OUA 15 14 23 11 63
Harding Hard 13 15 16 22 66

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | by Scott Goode (2/6/21)

Another Fourth Quarter Comeback Lifts Harding over Ouachita Baptist

SEARCY – Harding scored 14 straight points over a four-minute stretch of the fourth quarter to record its second straight come-from-behind victory and defeat Ouachita Baptist 66-63 Saturday in Great American Conference action at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.

The win was Harding's fifth straight overall and 11th consecutive at home. The Lady Bisons improved to 5-2 overall and in conference play and remained in second place in the GAC Eastern Division standings, now 1½ games behind leader Arkansas Tech, Harding's road opponent Monday night. Ouachita was seeking its first road win since Dec. 18, 2018, but came up just short.

Playing its first game of the season due to COVID protocols, Ouachita twice led by 10 points early in the fourth quarter. The Tigers' Makayla Miller hit a layup with 7:42 left to give Ouachita a 58-49 lead. Harding, who came from 17 points down in the fourth quarter in its last game against Henderson State, began to chip away with Carissa Caples and Kennedy Cooper scoring 11 of the 14 points during the comeback.

Cooper made a putback layup with 3:53 left to give Harding the lead for good at 59-58. She made two free throws on Harding's next trip, and Katelyn Burtch ended the run with two more free throws.

Harding led 65-60 after Jacie Evans' layup with 1:48 left. Ouachita benefited from a flagrant foul called on the Lady Bisons with just over a minute left. Jessi Bennett made one of two free throws, and Ouachita got the ball back. Miller hit a layup at 1:05 to trim the Lady Bison advantage to 65-63.

A wild flurry of turnovers, loose balls and deflected passes resulted in Caples picking up the ball near midcourt and driving for a layup with 16 seconds remaining. Fouled on the shot, Caples made one of two free throws to give Harding its final margin.

Ouachita missed two 3-pointers on its last possession in an attempt to tie the game.

The Lady Tigers battled foul trouble throughout and had three players foul out in the fourth quarter. Ouachita committed 31 fouls, and Harding made 26 of 38 free throws. The Lady Bisons outscored the Tigers by 12 points at the free-throw line.

Caples scored 20 points to lead Harding. She added six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Sage Hawley, Jordan Elder and Cooper had nine points each.

Miller and Lauren Wright both had double-doubles for Ouachita. Miller had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Wright had 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Ouachita shot 47% from the field in the third quarter and closed the period on a 13-1 run to lead 52-44. Harding missed its last 10 shots of the quarter and shot only 4 of 21, and the Tigers outscored the Lady Bisons 23-16 in the period.

Both teams shot 31% from the field in a first half with neither team leading by more than six points.

Harding had 53 rebounds, the fourth time this season with more than 50 in a game. The Lady Bisons had a season-high 25 offensive rebounds, the most since grabbing 26 offensive boards in a win over Ouachita in 2019.
 
Print Friendly Version