The Ouachita Baptist University women’s basketball team tied a school record for 3-pointers with 18 as the Lady Tigers held off Harding, 108-104, Saturday afternoon in a Gulf South Conference West Division game, which was the second-highest total for two teams in the conference in a contest, at Bill Vining Arena.
The two combined for 212 points. Only Jacksonville State and Troy State combined to score more points (217) during the 1988-89 season.
Gabby Coleman scored a career-high 28 points to pace Ouachita (13-6 overall, 3-4 GSC West). A’Laeshia Adams, who was 7-of-11 from the floor and drained six 3-pointers, also had a career high of 26 points. Haley Griffin chipped in with 16 points and nine rebounds and Kim Beverly finished with 12 points as Lady Tigers head coach Garry Crowder moved to within one victory of tying the all-time Ouachita women’s basketball career record for wins as he has won 212 games. Former Ouachita head coach Carolyn Moffett holds the record with 213 victories.
Ouachita was 35-of-67 (52 percent) shooting and 18-of-30 (60 percent) from behind the 3-point line, which marks as the highest total of threes in a conference game.
Ouachita raced out to a 12-4 advantage as the Lady Tigers began the game 4-of-4 from behind the 3-point line after a three by Adams with 18:15 remaining. Harding battled back and cut the Lady Tigers lead to 22-21 after a layup by Sierra Rollins with 12:56 left.
Ouachita extended the margin to 41-32 after a Coleman three with 6:17 left. But Harding continued to keep the game close, cutting the deficit to 41-38 on a layup by Stacey Owens with 5:23 remaining.
A pair of free throws by Adams extended the Ouachita margin to 48-40 with 3:29 left and the Lady Tigers took their largest lead of the first half with 23 seconds left on a layup by Coleman to give Ouachita a 56-46 advantage.
The Lady Tigers continued their hot shooting from behind the 3-point line, knocking down a school-record 11 first-half treys to grab a 56-48 halftime lead. Ouachita was 18-of-34 (53 percent) shooting and 11-of-17 from behind the 3-point stripe.
Harding was 18-of-34 as well in the opening half for 53 percent. The Lady Bisons were just 1-of-8 (17 percent) from behind the 3-point line, while going 11-of-12 (92 percent) from the free-throw line.
Ouachita took a 66-56 advantage on a Griffin jumper with 16:29 remaining, but Harding slowly started to reel the Lady Tigers in, cutting the deficit to 81-79 after a pair of free throws by Kaitlin May with 9:59 left.
The Lady Bisons took their first lead of the game on a Makala McNair 3-pointer with 8:03 left, but the Lady Tigers answered the score as Adams scored on a layup on the next offensive possession to grab an 87-86 advantage with 7:53 remaining.
Ouachita broke the sixth tie of the night by using a small 4-0 run, capped by a Coleman 3-pointer with 1:19 left to give the Lady Tigers a 103-99 lead. Harding couldn’t recover in falling to Ouachita.
Owens led Harding (13-6, 1-6) with 29 points and 13 boards. Ashley Anderson had 18 points, while Makala McNair and Sierra Rollins each had 15. Leah Fugett finished with 12 points.
The Lady Tigers take to the court again 6:00 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 5 against Delta State in a Gulf South Conference West Division contest at Bill Vining Arena. The game can be heard on the Ouachita Baptist University Athletic Web site at: www.obutigers.com.
