DURANT, Okla. – Despite leading the entire 10-minute second quarter and holding a nine-point lead at halftime, the Ouachita Lady Tigers fell to the Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm, 68-56 on Thursday. Katie Kapler scored a game-high 20 points in the loss.
 
The first five minutes of the first quarter featured four lead changes, until Southeastern Oklahoma State (9-11, 7-7 GAC) took a 7-6 lead. With 4:53 to play, however, Breanna Harris converted on a layup that sparked a 10-3 run for the Lady Tigers that ended the period with Ouachita holding a 16-13 lead.
 
Ouachita (7-13, 4-10 GAC) held the lead for the entire 10-minute second quarter, claiming its largest lead of 11 on a Harris three-pointer with 1:01 until halftime. Harris scored six points in the quarter, and the Lady Tigers went into the break with a 34-25 lead.
 
Harris led all scorers with 10 points in the first half, followed by Kapler with eight. The Lady Tigers netted 41.4 percent of their field goals in the half, while limiting the Savage Storm to just 30 percent shooting from the floor. Ouachita also converted 8-10 free throws but were just 2-8 from three-point range.
 
Alexis Sharp gave Ouachita two points on its first possession of the second half, but Southeastern Oklahoma State immediately responded with a three-pointer that started a 17-2 run that eventually put the Storm ahead 42-38. Despite tying the score three times in the final three minutes of the third quarter, Ouachita could not take back the lead, and the Savage Storm entered the final quarter with a 51-46 lead.
 
Ouachita trailed by just one possession for 4:36 of the fourth quarter but could not tie the score to take the lead. With 2:10 to play, a three from Southeastern started an 8-0 that lasted until the final buzzer, giving the Savage Storm the victory.
 
Kapler did not miss a shot in the second half, scoring 12 points on 4-4 shooting from the floor and 4-4 on free-throws. The Lady Tigers netted just 38.1 percent of their field-goals, however, due to a 0-6 effort from three-point range. Ouachita did convert on 53.3 percent of its shots inside the arc.
 
The Lady Tigers received 14 points from the bench in the first half but zero in the second. Ouachita also outscored the Storm 16-10 in the paint in the first 20 minutes, but were outscored 18-12 in the final 20 minutes.
 
For the game, Ouachita knocked down 14-16 free-throws but were just 2-14 from three. Harris followed Kapler with 18 points in the contest on 7-12 shooting from the floor. Kapler and Harris each added six rebounds, as well, and Harris recorded five assists.
 
The Lady Tigers will stay in Oklahoma until Saturday, when Ouachita takes on East Central University in Ada. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m.