Lady Bison Basketball Defeats Southwestern Oklahoma State 69-61

Courtesy HU Athletics Department

SEARCY – The Harding women’s basketball team defeated Southwestern Oklahoma State 69-61 in Great American Conference action at the Rhodes Field House on Thursday. The Lady Bisons improved to 6-4 overall and evened their GAC record at 2-2.

Sophomore guard Shana Holmes led HU with 19 points. Junior forward Kristen Celsor captured her second straight double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Celsor hit 7-of-11 from the field and was perfect from the free throw line hitting 3-of-3.

Sophomore forward Arielle Saunders captured her third double-double of the season with 15 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. It was the fourth time this season Saunders has had over 10 rebounds in a game.

The Harding defense had a season-high nine blocks in the game. It tied for fourth most in program history. Saunders led HU with a season-high five blocks and senior guard Deshelle Isaac-Boyce had a career-high three blocks. Harding also had nine steals, led by Isaac-Boyce who had four.

Southwestern Oklahoma State (8-2, 3-1 GAC) hit seven 3-pointers in the first half and grabbed 30 rebounds and took a 39-33 lead at halftime.

Harding began to mount their comeback when 11:34 left in the game when Isaac-Boyce hit a layup to cut the SWOSU lead to three. HU then went on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to take a five point lead on a layup by Arielle Saunders with nine minutes left. The Lady Bisons hung on down the stretch as they answered each Bulldog basket. Holmes hit both of her free throws with 22 seconds left to seal the HU victory.

Southwestern Oklahoma State was led by senior guard SaRaya Oyler who had 23 points and seven rebounds. Oyler scored 15 of her points in the first half as she made three 3-pointers.

Harding won the battle in the paint as they scored 44 points to SWOSU’s 28.

The Harding defense held Southwestern Oklahoma State to shooting 31.5 percent in the game (23-of-73). SWOSU ranked first in the GAC in field goal percentage prior to Thursday’s game (44.8).

The Lady Bisons will continue Great American Conference action on Saturday as they host Northwestern Oklahoma State at 2 p.m., at the Rhodes Field House.