SEARCY, Ark. – SWOSU Women's Basketball played from behind nearly all of Thursday night against No. 16/21-ranked Harding but gave the Lady Bisons all they wanted in a 79-72 loss inside Rhoades-Reaves Field House. The Lady Bulldogs trailed by 10-plus points on two separate occasions in the second and third quarters and fought back to keep the game close but could not find a way to overtake Harding on the scoreboard.
Harding extends their home winning streak to 20 games. SWOSU drops to 8-7 and 5-4 in league play.
After trailing 24-16 after the first quarter and 30-20 with 7:44 left in the second quarter, the Lady Bulldogs used a 10-0 run to tie the game up and eventually trailed by one possession by halftime.
Following the intermission, Harding pushed their lead back to 12 points with 4:14 remaining before SWOSU chipped away again. The deficit was six by the end of the quarter and got to as many as nine in the early part of the fourth quarter before the Lady Dawgs made one final push.
Trailing 64-55 with 7:34 to play, SWOSU used an 11-3 spurt to make it a one-point ballgame. A trio of long balls from Hailey Grant (2) and Chloe Cantrell (1) capped off by a Beyonce Lane layup after an offensive rebound had SWOSU back in business with just over five minutes of basketball left.
Down the stretch, Harding had productive possessions on offense and got the necessary stops on defense to keep the SWOSU upset bid at bay.
Both teams shot near identical percentages in the contest. SWOSU, 44%, and Harding, 45%. The Lady Bulldogs took 12 more shots than Harding, but the Lady Bisons finished 28-for-39 at the free throw line – the most foul shots taken, and made, by an opponent this season.
SWOSU was 10-of-10 at the foul line at halftime but only got to the line once after the break.
Hailey Grant led the team in scoring and rebounds with a career high 18 points and seven rebounds. Averi Zinn added 16 points and set a new career high with eight assists. Libbi Zinn rounded out SWOSU's double-figure performances with 11 points.
Following the loss, SWOSU will now set its sights on Arkansas Tech who they will face on Saturday (Jan. 20) at 1:00 pm in Russellville. The Golden Suns are fresh off an upset of a nationally ranked Northwestern squad tonight and hold an identical 5-4 mark as the Dawgs in conference play.
