SEARCY, Ark. – Harding benefited from an effective first half during a 77-48 victory over Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday afternoon at Rhodes-Reaves Field House.
The green and gold fell to 12-11 overall and 8-9 in the GAC with the result.
Senior
Jaylin Stapleton led the way with 17 points which included an 8-for-9 performance at the foul line. After that,
Kendall Parker and
Kennedy Large each tallied seven points while
Jill Leslie contributed four points and a team-high 10 boards.
As a team, OBU didn't fare well on the offensive end as it shot 27.1 percent from the field and made two of 21 attempts from downtown.
Following a Stapleton fast-break layup about two minutes in, Harding reeled off a 14-0 run to take a 15-2 advantage. OBU passed its way to open looks in that Lady Bisons run, however, it could not knock them in.
By the end of the first though, the Bison rallied brought the scoreboard to 19-11 after an and-one conversion by
Madison Chambers.
That small amount of momentum carried over into the second for the Bison. A jumper just inside the right elbow by
Mallory Lockhart followed by two Stapleton free throws at 8:48 brought the Bison to within four, 19-15.
After that, Harding took control. The home squad extended its lead to 32-19 over the next five minutes as Kendrick Bailey scored six of those 13 points on three-pointers. Then in the final three minutes, HU scored eight straight to make it 40-21.
By the break, Harding had hit 44.8 percent from the field, 42.9 from three and made eight of 10 at the foul line.
Third-quarter action saw the hosts continue to extend their lead while thwarting any chance of an OBU comeback.
The green and gold will look to get back in the win column on Monday night at 5:30 when they host Southern Nazarene at the Noble Complex.
