Box Score (html)
DURANT, Okla. – Behind a career-high 36 points from junior guard
Tyra Aska, the #17/16 Lady Bulldogs defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State 93-83 on Saturday afternoon at Bloomer Sullivan Arena. In addition, Aska scored her 1,000th career point in the game, becoming the 13th player in program history to reach the milestone.
Both teams opened the game shooting well, but it was the Lady Dawgs leading 26-22 after one behind 11 first-quarter points from
Taylor Hedrick. Aska, who entered the game with 992 career points, knocked down a three-pointer early in the second quarter for her 1,000th career point, part of a 6-0 run to open the quarter.
Taber Beer came on in relief of
Hayden Priddy in the second and scored 10 points in the half, helping SWOSU outscore the Savage Storm 25-13 in the quarter to extend the lead to 51-35 at the intermission.
Aska continued to carry the load offensively in the second half, helping the Lady Dawgs keep a lead of at least 10 points the entire second half. She scored 10 points in third quarter, knocking down two three pointers and continued to be the go-to player with 13 points in the fourth quarter. When the final horn sounded, Aska had 36 points on 12-of-18 shooting, which included 6-of-8 three-pointers. Her scoring total matches the highest-scoring output in the Great American Conference this season and it is the second-highest point total by a Lady Bulldogs under head coach
Kelsi Musick.
While Aska held the leading role on Saturday, she was far from SWOSU's lone standout.
Taylor Hedrick scored a season-high for the second straight game, totaling 16 points along with rive rebounds and two assists while
Taber Beer came off the bench and scored 14 points, one more than her previous career-high from Thursday night at Northwestern.
Hayden Priddy battled foul trouble for the second straight game, but she scored 10 points with three rebounds and two steals before fouling out in 17 minutes of action.
Hailey Tucker was held under 10 points for just the second time this season, but finished with a balanced stat line of nine points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and one steal, while
Bethany Franks pulled down six rebounds to go along with three points, four assists and four steals.
"Overall, I'm very pleased with this team for coming on the road for the fourth straight game and getting a victory," SWOSU Head Coach
Kelsi Musick said. "I'm not pleased with the amount of turnovers we committed today, but to come on the road and score over 90 points is hard to do, so I'm definitely pleased with the win."
SWOSU (15-1, 10-0 GAC) has now matched the NCAA Division II era record with 15 consecutive wins, a feat they also accomplished last season. After two weeks on the road, the Lady Bulldogs return to the Pioneer Cellular Event Center, where they will host Arkansas Tech and Harding next weekend.