Box Score (html)
WEATHERFORD, Okla. – SWOSU fell to its fourth consecutive defeat to open the 2015-16 season, suffering an 85-74 setback to Harding on Saturday afternoon in the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
Nina Gregory provided a bright spot for SWOSU, leading the team and setting a new career-high with 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including a team-best four treys. Her previous career high was 14 points, set against Harding last year in Weatherford. She also chipped in with three rebounds in 22 minutes of action off the bench.
The Lady Bulldogs struck first, and were leading after three minutes of play thanks to the dialed-in efforts of
Whitney Dunn and
Hailey Tucker from long range. Despite a brief lead by Harding at 10-9, SWOSU ripped off five straight points to reclaim the lead at 14-10. Unfortunately, a 9-0 run by the Lady Bisons over the next four minutes gave them a 19-14 lead with 1:06 left in the first, and SWOSU found themselves in a seven point hole to end the frame down 25-18.
Turnovers seemed destined to doom the Lady Dawgs after three straight turnovers, but a pair of timely corner three-pointers by Gregory off feeds by Dunn helped SWOSU pull together a 9-0 run of their own to cut the gap to nine points at 38-29 with 3:03 to play in the half. Free throws by
Jessica Penner helped SWOSU pull within six, but Harding would head into the locker rooms for halftime up 43-34.
Out of the break, SWOSU was able to cut the Lady Bisons' lead to as few as seven points following a layup by
Kylie Franz off the dish from
Hayden Priddy. Unfortunately, Harding pushed the issue soon after, with the lead ballooning to 18 points at 63-45 with just over a minute left in the third period.
The Lady Dawgs played their best quarter in the fourth, winning the frame 25-22 thanks to eight more points by Gregory, including another pair of treys off helpers from Dunn and
Jade Jones. Despite winning the fourth quarter, Harding would go on to claim a victory by double-digit margins.
Aside from Gregory, Jones was the only other Lady Bulldog to reach double figures at 13 points. Dunn filled up the box score nicely as well, tallying seven points and a team-high eight rebounds to go along with five assists, a steal and a block in 19 minutes of action.
SWOSU puts conference play on hold next week, welcoming Oklahoma Christian to the Pioneer Center on Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m.
