ARKADELPHIA – First-place Harding University took advantage of a plus-28 free throw attempt margin and a plus-nine rebound margin to beat the Ouachita Baptist University women's basketball team by a final score of 69-61 on Thursday night inside Bill Vining Arena.
Ouachita (6-7, 3-6 GAC) was whistled for 29 fouls in the game, while Harding (12-4, 8-1 GAC) only committed 11 according to the men in stripes. The result gave the Bisons 20 points out of 37 total trips to the charity stripe. Ouachita was 5-for-9 on foul shots.
With the exception of the final period when Harding outscored Ouachita 23-16, the rest of the game was close with 10 lead changes and six tied scores. Harding led for just over half of the contest, including its largest lead of 10 in the final 30 seconds. Ouachita led by as many as five points early in the fourth.
Both teams shot evenly from the field in the game with Harding holding the slight advantage at 43.4 percent (23-for-53). Ouachita finished at 42.9 percent (24-for-56).
Laney Mears led the Tigers with 18 points, followed by
Heidi Robinson with 13.
Madeleine Tipton and
Grayson Fairless also reached double-digits in scoring with 11 points each.
The Tigers are back in action this Saturday on the road against Arkansas Tech. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. in Russellville.
