Box Score (html)
SEARCY, Ark. – The Lady Bulldogs lost their starting point guard to injury, battled foul trouble, lost a 17-point lead and overcame a four-point deficit in the final two minutes to earn their first-ever victory at Rhodes-Reaves Field House on Saturday afternoon, defeating Harding 79-77 on a lay in by
Janae Coffee at the buzzer.
SWOSU came out of the gates strong, building a lead of 20-5 in the early going in a stretch that saw point guard
Jade Jones hit her first two field goal attempts before leaving the game with an injury.
Hailey Tucker was the main offensive threat as the Lady Bulldogs extended their lead to 17 at 27-10 late in the first quarter. Harding closed the first quarter on an 11-3 run and scored the final 10 points of the second quarter as the Lady Bulldogs led by just one, 40-39, at halftime despite 18 first-half points from Tucker.
Harding hit a three-pointer on their opening possession of the second half and they would not relinquish the lead until the final seconds. The Lady Bisons led by as many as seven during the third quarter, but they were unable to pull away from SWOSU, who battled back and stayed close.
Kylie Franz hit four three's during the fourth quarter, keeping the Lady Bulldogs close during a stretch that saw both teams trade three-point field goals on four straight possessions. SWOSU trailed 76-72 with 1:57 to play, but Franz's final three got her squad within one with less than a minute remaining. Following a Harding turnover, Tucker gave SWOSU the lead with 23 seconds to play, but the Lady Bisons got to the teammate and tied the game at 77-77 with 6.9 seconds to play.
Hayden Priddy, who played a career-high 37 minutes in Jones' absence, brought the ball up and swung it around until
Morgan Vogt found herself on the right wing with little time remaining. Vogt drove baseline, forcing help from a Harding defender and allowing her to find Coffee underneath all alone to lay in the final basket as time expired, bringing the entire SWOSU team off the bench for a celebration underneath the goal.
"What a big win for my team, I couldn't me more proud of them for fighting for their teammates," SWOSU Head Coach
Kelsi Musick said. "This is a really close team, they never got down and continued to fight even when things weren't going our way, but we found a way to get this win for Jade today."
Hailey Tucker tied her career-high, finishing with 24 points on 9-of-25 shooting from the field and 3-of-15 from long range.
Morgan Vogt scored 16 points in 38 minutes while
Kylie Franz had 15 points in 36 minutes and
Janae Coffee's final basket put her into double figures with 10 points on 5-for-6 field goal attempts.
SWOSU improves to 12-7 on the year and 8-5 in league play with the win, which moves them to within one game of Harding for second place in the league standings. The Lady Bulldogs are back at home next weekend, facing Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday evening at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
