MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Harding women’s basketball team defeated Christian Brothers 57-53 on Tuesday in their final non-conference game of the season. The Lady Bisons will continue Great American Conference play on January 3rd as they host Southwestern Oklahoma State at 5:30 p.m., at the Rhodes Field House.
For the second straight game, junior forward Kristen Celsor led Harding (5-4) in scoring. Celsor connected on 6-of-13 from the field and hit 7-of-11 from the free throw line to finish with 20 points. She also picked up her first double-double of the season adding 11 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Shana Holmes scored 19 points for the Lady Bisons. She hit three 3-pointers and was perfect from the foul line hitting 6-of-6. Holmes scored 17 of her points in the second half. Sophomore guard Montana Lewis captured her third double-double of the season with 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
With 6:44 left in the first half, Montana Lewis hit a layup to give Harding a 17-11 lead. In the closing minutes of the half, Christian Brothers pulled within one on a 9-4 run. HU lead 21-20 at halftime.
Christian Brothers stayed close to Harding in the opening minutes of the second half until Shana Holmes hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Lady Bisons a 37-30 lead with 10:08 left. The Lady Bucs slowly climbed their way back into the game and came within two on a 3-pointer by Ashley Schaefer with 1:48 left on the clock.
CBU was then forced to foul after Holmes hit both of her free throws to give HU 54-50 lead with 1:34 left to play. Christian Brothers got the ball back with 14 seconds left after Harding only made 1-of-2 free throws. CBU missed a 3-pointer with five seconds left and Shana Holmes made both free throws to give Harding the victory.
Harding outshot Christian Brothers in the game. The Lady Bisons shot 34.7 percent and held CBU to shooting 31.0 percent.
HU outrebounded the Lady Bucs 46-33. It was the second time this season two Lady Bisons have had more than 10 rebounds in a game (Celsor and Lewis). Sophomore forward Arielle Saunders and Lewis both had 11 rebounds against Southern Nazarene on Dec. 1st.
Christian Brothers (3-5) was led by Breanna Ridgell who had 17 points. Ashley Schaefer had 12 points and Samantha Reeves had 11 points and led CBU on the boards with seven.
It was Christian Brothers’ first loss at home this season.
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