FORT SMITH, Ark. — Junior guard Josie Williams scored 20 points and the top-seeded, No. 18-ranked Harding Lady Bisons used a suffocating defense to defeat Southern Nazarene 67-59 in the quarterfinals of the Great American Conference Tournament on Thursday night.
Harding (24-5), the tournament's No. 1 seed, advances to face the winner of the Henderson State-Southeastern Oklahoma matchup in the semifinals on Saturday at 5:45 p.m. at the Stubblefield Center.
The Lady Bisons leaned on their championship-caliber defense to complete a three-game season sweep of the Storm (10-17). Harding forced 17 turnovers and capitalized with a 20-8 advantage in points off those miscues. The Lady Bisons also dominated the charity stripe, finishing 19-of-25 (76 percent) compared to SNU's 9-of-15.
The contest shifted for good in the first period. After an early 3-point lead by SNU, the Lady Bisons ignited a 13-0 run. Maddi Holt hit a triple from the right wing, and layups from Williams, Allie Rehl, and Myiah Butler fueled a 15-3 closing run that gave Harding an 18-9 lead at the end of one.
Harding pushed its lead to a game-high 14 points in the second quarter. The surge was highlighted by back-to-back 3-point plays from Kori Sanders and Williams, making it 33-19 before the Storm narrowed the gap to eight at the half.
Despite a cold shooting stretch in the third quarter where the Lady Bisons went the final 3:50 without a field goal, Sanders hit four consecutive free throws to keep the Storm at bay.
The top seed regained its composure to start the fourth. Holt scored two quick layups and Williams added a jumper to push the lead back to 52-41. Southern Nazarene made a late push to cut the lead to 62-56 with 2:06 left, but Williams remained composed, going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final minute to secure the victory.
Williams led all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Sanders finished with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Holt added seven points and Rehl chipped in eight.
Halyn Browning led Southern Nazarene with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Harding outshot SNU 40 percent to 36.8 percent and maintained a 30-24 advantage in points in the paint.
Saturday's semifinal game will be broadcast live on KVHU 95.3 FM and GACSportsNetwork.com.
