SHAWNEE, Okla. – Harding has overcome all kinds of adversity this season to win 25 games for only the third time in program history.

The Lady Bisons could not overcome a stretch of more than 10 minutes in the second half without a made field goal and fell 57-46 to Southern Nazarene on Sunday in the championship game of the Great American Conference Tournament at FireLake Arena.

It was Harding's sixth GAC Tournament championship game in 12 seasons in the conference. The Lady Bisons won titles in 2015 and 2017.

Harding concludes its season with a 25-7 overall record. An at-large berth in the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament is unlikely. The Lady Bisons were not among the top 10 teams in the Central Region according to the latest NCAA regional rankings.

Southern Nazarene won its 18th straight game and improved to 27-4.

Jacie Evans, playing her final game as a Lady Bison, led the team with 21 points. She earned All-GAC Tournament honors along with Sage Hawley and Rory Geer. It was Evans' 11th career game with 20 or more points and her third this season against Southern Nazarene. Hawley added 10 points for the Lady Bisons.

Harding trailed 34-29 at halftime and scored the first four points of the second half to cut Southern Nazarene's lead to only one point. The Lady Bisons missed their next 17 shots. Harding snapped the skid with Evans' reverse layup with 6:54 left and trailed 49-36 at that point.

A 6-0 Harding run saw the Lady Bisons pull within 49-40 with 6:10 remaining, but Southern Nazarene scored the next six points and held off Harding.  

Harding held a 15-14 lead after one quarter. Both teams hit 6-of-13 shots from the field. Southern Nazarene made two 3-pointers, and Harding connected on 3-of-4 free throws.

Harding had a four-minute stretch without a basket in the second quarter, missing eight straight shots. During that time, Southern Nazarene scored 11 consecutive points and led 32-23 with 1:59 left. Harley Harbour ended the drought with a put-back layup with 1:33 remaining.

The Lady Bisons trailed by nine points twice in the quarter, but a long two-point jumper from the right wing with 23 seconds remaining and Rory Geer's buzzer-beater from the right baseline cut Southern Nazarene's halftime lead to 34-29.