Box Score (html)
WEATHERFORD, Okla. – SWOSU Women's Basketball outscored Ouachita by nine in the fourth quarter that would prove to be the difference on Thursday night as the Lady Bulldogs defeated the Lady Tigers 79-70 after beginning the final quarter tied at 55-55.
The Dawgs started the fourth quarter with only one point in the opening four minutes and found themselves trailing by four with 6:33 left to play and three at the 5:36 mark after
Whitney Dunn made one of two from the line.
It was in nearly a minute and a half span starting at the 5:03 mark that
Savannah Gray would knock down two clutch deep balls to tie and then extend the SWOSU lead while
Hailey Tucker was able to connect on a three ball of her own to push the Dawg lead to six with 3:33 left in the fourth quarter.
After the Tucker three the Lady Bulldogs proceeded to go on an 11-0 run to break away from Ouachita and grab their biggest lead of the game of 14 points. The Lady Tigers could not overcome the deficit and only managed to break the double-digit margin by a single point twice before the clock struck zeros.
The Dawgs were able to overcome a 39-32 halftime deficit to collect their eighteenth win of the season despite shooting only 35.8% in the first two quarters on 10-of-29 shooting overall. After only hitting two three point buckets in the first half, the basket would open up in the second half as SWOSU would shoot 55% and go 6-for-11 from beyond the arc.
SWOSU finished the game with a field goal percentage of 42.4% and went 21-for-29 (72.4%) from the charity stripe. Tucker was the high scorer, finishing a rebound shy of a double-double and putting up 24 points. Gray's ability to stretch the defense with threes was a contributing factor on the night, as the sophomore hit a career high six deep balls and finished with 18 points. Dunn scored 14 while
Hayden Priddy ended with a double-double herself at 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lady Bulldogs (18-9, 14-7 GAC) will play the final game of the regular season against Henderson State on Saturday at noon. After a Southeastern loss tonight against Harding, SWOSU is now tied with the Savage Storm for third place in the conference and Saturday's contest will have seed implications to determine if the Dawgs will be a number three or four seed in the upcoming GAC Tournament.
