SEARCY, Ark. – In their conference opener, SWOSU Women's Basketball came up short in a tightly contested 73-62 battle with No. 7 Harding on Thursday night.
Both of the opening frames ended with the same scoring mark, as Harding took each quarter 20-18 to make the halftime score 40-36. During the break, however, the referee crew removed a three-pointer by
Wrigley Adkisson from the five-minute mark of the second quarter due to the release being after the shot clock had expired, which would have been her first of the season. The adjustment changed the score to 40-33 in favor of the Lady Bisons when the Lady Dawgs came out of the locker room.
SWOSU and Harding both found a big rim in the closing stretch of the half, as the teams combined to shoot 13-15 from the field over the final six minutes. The Lady Bisons went 6-11 (54.5%) from beyond the arc, while the Lady Dawgs were just 2-7 (28.6%).
Both teams stayed even in the third frame, with each side scoring 14 points.
Payten Conde (8) and
Landry Allen (5) were the main engines on the offensive end in the quarter.
Harding showed why it's ranked No. 7 in the nation with a composed fourth quarter, winning the frame 19-15. The Lady Bulldogs missed their final five shots, while the Lady Bisons earned their separation at the free throw line, scoring their final nine points there. Harding finished 23-24 from the stripe, while the Lady Dawgs went just 7-13.
Allen had a monster game with a career-high 24 points, six rebounds, six blocks, two assists, and a steal, all while battling foul trouble for most of the night. Conde and
Sincere Jackson each added 12 points, and Jackson grabbed six rebounds.
The Lady Dawgs committed fewer turnovers (16-17) and had more assists (17-15) than a Harding team that ranks among the nation's best in assist-to-turnover ratio. SWOSU was outrebounded 39-31 overall and 14-13 on the offensive glass, but doubled up the Lady Bisons in second-chance points, 12-6.
SWOSU has now dropped close matchups with two top-10 teams in its last three games and will look to get back on track Saturday in Russellville when they face Arkansas Tech at 1:00 p.m.
