A last second shot from Harding’s Lauren Crenshaw dropped into the basket on Saturday afternoon, sealing a Ouachita Lady Tiger loss in what was a defensive battle. The Lady Tigers lost the contest by a score of 55-52, after holding off the Lady Bisons’ offensive attack all night long.
In the first half, Harding (15-7, 11-5 GAC) jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, but at the time no one realized that points would come much more sparingly for the rest of the game. The Lady Tigers (15-7, 10-6 GAC) answered the early buckets from Harding with an 8-2 run; giving them an 8-7 lead with a little over 15 minutes left in the first half.
Ouachita would lead for the rest of the first half, stretching their lead to as many as five at one point before having it cut to three at the break.
There were five lead changes in the second half, despite the fact that the Lady Tigers led by as much as seven early in the period. Harding put together a run and tied the game, before the teams ended up in a see-saw battle the rest of the way.
A capitalized and-one opportunity from Ouachita’s Breanna Harris tied the teams at 40 with just 2:13 left in the game. Ouachita then went the other way and got a stop, followed by a bucket from Monica Williams and took a two point lead with 1:33 left to play.
A pair of free throws from Harding’s Montana Lewis tied the game though, and neither team was able to score until Crenshaw’s buzzer-beating three, sealing a 45-42 win for the Lady Bisons.
Ouachita’s Nashia James led the team with 10 points, while Katherine West finished with nine and Monica Williams finished with eight. Erica Sharp led the Lady Tigers on the board, grabbing seven rebounds.
Harding’s duo of Deshelle Isaac-Boyce and Arielle Saunders both finished with eight points. Kristen Celsor and Shana Holmes finished with seven, but Celsor recorded a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Lady Tigers shot just 29.8 percent from the floor, which is surprisingly better than their opponents, who only shot 27.3 percent in the game. Ouachita committed 21 turnovers to Harding’s 19 and fell short on the boards as well, with Harding recording two more than the Lady Tigers.
Ouachita will look to snap a four game losing streak on Thursday, when they travel to Alva, Oklahoma to take on Northwestern State in a conference battle. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
Photo Credit to Dr. Wesley Kluck
