HOT SPRINGS – Ouachita Baptist capped its historic run at the 2024 Great American Conference Volleyball Championships with a three-set victory against second-seeded Harding on Saturday from Bank OZK Arena.

The Tigers (22-9) became the lowest seed, five, to win the league’s volleyball title. They became the first to defeat three higher seeds en route to the title. Additionally, they joined Arkansas Tech, in 2021, as just the second team to defeat both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in one year. The became the first first-time champion of the event since Oklahoma Baptist won for the first time in 2019.

The opening set saw Ouachita take an early 13-8 lead. Harding (22-9) answered by tallying seven of the subsequent eight points. Trailing 19-17, the Tigers rattled off seven consecutive points – four on Riley Braziel kills – to advance to set point. After four-straight points from the Lady Bisons, Braziel closed out the set with another kill.

A 10-3 spurt early in the second set put the Lady Bisons in front, 12-8. They maintained the three-point lead until the Tigers closed out the set with 11 of the final 15 points. Haley Fairchild scored two kills and a solo block. Braziel collected two more kills, as did Leah Gardner.

After eight ties early in the third set, the Tigers closed out the match in grand fashion – scoring 13 of the final 17 points – for a 25-16 set victory. Braziel scored three points -two kills plus an ace – and Gardner put the finishing touches on the championship victory with kills for the final two points.

Courtney Hanson captured Tournament MVP honors after averaging 12.08 assists and 4.83 digs per set in the three victories. On Saturday, she finished with 41 assists and 18 digs. Avery Jauz and Braziel joined Hanson on the All-Tournament Team. Jauz collected 25 digs against the Lady Bison and averaged 7.33 per set during the tournament. Her 88 total digs rank as the second-most in a single GAC Championship. Braziel led the Tigers with 13 kills.

Harding’s Tatum Fouche and Delaney Garner received All-Tournament honors. Fouche finished with 23 digs on Saturday and Garner registered nine kills. East Central’s Odalys Gonzalez and Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Lacy Mott filled out the seven member team.

The Tigers secure their first appearance in the NCAA Division II Championships in program history. They learn their opponent during Monday’s selection show. It streams on NCAA.com at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

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ARKADELPHIA – Ouachita Baptist became the third Great American Conference school to win back-to-back Women’s Soccer Championship titles as the Tigers bested Oklahoma Baptist 4-3 in penalty kicks on Sunday from Kluck Field following a 0-0 contest.

Ouachita (8-7-4) equaled the feat set by Southwestern Oklahoma State, in 2012-13, and Harding, in 2015-16, by successfully defending the title. Madi Vana, Abbey Moore, McKenna Wright and Ava Dunagan converted their penalty kicks and Carina Chavarria – subbed into the game at the the beginning of the penalty kick phase – made two saves to secure the program’s fourth GAC Championship title. Sunday’s title represented the first instance in which they clinched on home soil. All three of their prior victories – 2014, Spring 2021 and 2023 – came on the road against that year’s top seed.

Oklahoma Baptist (6-6-7) recorded nine shots, five on target in the opening 45 minutes and limited the Tigers to just four shots, one on goal. In the second half, Ouachita registered four shots on goal as compared to three from Oklahoma Baptist.

The two starting goalkeepers – Claire Stoermer for Oklahoma Baptist and Taylor Hapgood for Ouachita Baptist – combined for 17 saves as the two teams played in just the second 0-0 final in league history. East Central and Ouachita Baptist played to a 0-0 draw in 2011.

The Tigers’ Teagan Jaussi received the Tournament MVP honor. She scored the winning goal in Friday’s semifinal against Southern Nazarene. Vana, Moore, Allison Reece and Sophia Valencia made added All-Tournament honors. Stoermer, Chloe Monroe and Sam Sheffield represented the Bison on the team.

Harding’s Carmen Gunn and Georgia Templeton plus Southern Nazarene’s Adison Johnson and Natalie Montanez filled out the 12-member All-Tournament Team.

The Tigers secured the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Championships. They’ll learn their opponent at 6:00 p.m. Monday during the NCAA Selection Show. They’ll make their third appearance in the NCAA Tournament having previously qualified in 2007 and last year.

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BENTONVILLE, Ark. –  Inclement weather in the Bentonville area has delayed the start of 2022 Under Armour Great American Conference Softball Championships until Saturday morning.

Thursday’s scheduled quarterfinals will now be played on Saturday with the same start times. The semifinals will take place at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday with the final slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch.

SATURDAY, MAY 7
Game 1 11:00 a.m. Quarterfinal #1 – No. 4 Southern Nazarene vs No. 5 Oklahoma Baptist
Game 2 1:30 p.m. Quarterfinal #2 – No. 1 Arkansas Tech vs No. 8 Arkansas-Monticello
Game 3 4:00 p.m. Quarterfinal #3 – No. 2 Southern Arkansas vs No. 7 Ouachita
Game 4 6:30 p.m. Quarterfinal #4 – No. 3 Harding vs No. 6 Southeastern Oklahoma State

SUNDAY, MAY 8
Game 5 11:00 a.m. Semifinal #1: Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2
Game 6 1:30 p.m. Semifinal #2: Winner Game 3 vs Winner Game 4
Game 7 6:00 p.m. Championship: Winner Game 5 vs Winner Game 6

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MAGNOLIA – Two Harding freshmen scored career highs Saturday as the Lady Bisons dismantled Southern Arkansas, 95-70, Saturday in Great American Conference women’s basketball action at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.

Aubrey Isbell, a freshman from Mountain View, Arkansas, scored a career-high 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting. It was the first 20-point game of her career.

Kendrick “Bug” Bailey, a freshman from Hollister, Missouri, made her third career start and scored a career-high 14 points. She shot 5 of 6 from the field and added five assists and two steals.

The Lady Bisons lost their last three games on Saturday but put the game away early against Southern Arkansas. Harding led by 18 points after three quarters.

Harding won consecutive conference games for the first time this season and improved to 10-5 overall and 6-4 in the GAC. Southern Arkansas lost for the fifth time in its last six games and dropped to 8-7 overall and 3-6 in conference.

Harding’s freshmen had plenty of help from the upperclassmen. Junior Jacie Evans shot 8 of 10 from the field and scored 19 points. Sophomore Sage Hawley had 16 points and 12 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season and second straight.

The Lady Bisons shot a season-high 53.7% from the field, making more than half their shots in three of the four quarters, leading to a season-high scoring total. Harding was 19 of 24 from the free-throw line, including 12 of 13 in the fourth quarter.

On the defensive end, Harding held Southern Arkansas to a season-low 28.4% shooting. The Muleriders missed 32 of 39 3-point attempts. Southern Arkansas averaged almost 90 points per game entering Saturday’s action but was held to 70 points or fewer for only the third time this season.

Harding pushed its lead to 18 points at 69-51 in the third quarter with solid play on both ends. The Lady Bisons shot 56% in the quarter and limited Southern Arkansas to only 29% shooting. The Muleriders made only 1 of 8 3-point attempts.

Harding shot 54.3% in the first half and made three 3-pointers to lead 45-35 at the break. The Lady Bisons held Southern Arkansas to only 26.2% shooting and forced 17 misses on 21 3-point attempts.

Harding will look to make it three straight wins Thursday when it hosts Northwestern Oklahoma at 5 p.m. at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.

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WEATHERFORD, Okla. — After falling behind 67-66 with 3:40 left on Saturday, Henderson State closed the game on a 14-3 run to defeat Southwestern Oklahoma State 80-70 at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.

The win was the 100th for head coach Jimmy Elgas at Henderson State. Elgas becomes just the fourth coach in program history to win 100 or more games at the school, joining Don Dyer (316), Rand Chappell (120) and Grady Bean (101).

Five different players scored in double figures for the Reddies (8-5, 4-3) in the victory. Malik Riddle finished with a team-high 17 points — 14 of which came in the second half. Ryan Boyce had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Xavier Davenport added 12 and Quawn Marshall and Alvin Miles each had 11.

After a back-and-forth start, Henderson was in control of the game for most of the afternoon. The lead changed hands 12 times in the first 15 minutes of the opening half, but with the score knotted at 22-22, the Reddies put together a big run. HSU used 3-pointers from Riddle and Miles, as well as an alley-oop jam from Boyce, to power an 11-1 run and surge in front 33-23 at the 2:39 mark.

SWOSU looked to steal some momentum before the break, and used an 8-0 spurt to trim the deficit to 33-31, but a 3-pointer from Graham Chenault in the last minute of the half and a buzzer-beating jumper from Miles reestablished a 38-31 lead for Henderson after 20 minutes. The Reddies hit four 3-pointers in the last five minutes of the period.

The Bulldogs scored the first five points of the second half to trim the lead down to 38-36, but HSU had an answer and got five quick points from Riddle to help extend the advantage back out to 45-36 with 15:13 remaining. Henderson continued to slowly stretch the lead over the next several minutes, as back-to-back 3-pointers from Miles and Davenport gave the Reddies their largest lead of the game, 56-45, at the 11:33 mark.

Although Southwestern continued to try and climb back, HSU was able to keep them at bay as the game entered its final stretch. The Bulldogs got as close at 59-55 with 8:24 left behind a 10-3 run, but a 3-pointer from Riddle and a bucket from Boyce helped Henderson go up 64-57 with 6:54 to go.

At that moment, the game flipped in SWOSU’s favor. After leading for the entire second half, the Reddies watched as Southwestern put together a 10-2 run over the next three minutes and seized a 67-66 advantage with 3:40 remaining in the game.

With the momentum suddenly on the home team’s bench and trailing for the first time since the first half, the Reddies answered the bell with the run that would define the game. A jumper from Boyce quickly gave the lead back to HSU and back-to-back driving layups from Marshall on the next two possessions stretched the advantage to 72-67 at the 1:39 mark.

A 3-pointer from the Bulldogs, which would prove to be their last points of the game, cut the deficit to 72-70 with 1:13 left, but Henderson was too much in the final minute. Marshall again came through with a slicing lay-in to make it 74-70 on the ensuing possession for HSU and the Reddies locked down SWOSU on the other end. Southwestern missed four shots and committed a turnover in the last 35 seconds, as Henderson was able to salt the game away at the free throw line and win it, 80-70.

The Reddies shot a scorching 69.6% (16-of-23) from the floor in the second half and hit a season-high 11 3-pointers in the game. Henderson also shared the ball exceptionally well and finished with 22 assists — the most in a single game for the program since 2019. The victory was the 11th-straight for HSU over Southwestern Oklahoma.

Henderson returns to the floor on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. when it hosts rival Ouachita Baptist at the Duke Wells Center.

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ADA, Okla. – Junior guard Blake Rogers registered a career-high 26 points, the most by a Mulerider this season, and senior forward Devante Brooks filled up his stat ledger with a double-double for the ninth time this year and for the eighth-consecutive game, but Southern Arkansas was slowed late on the road Thursday night in Ada as East Central topped the Muleriders 81-77 in Great American Conference action. The defeat snaps a four-game winning streak by SAU and drops the team’s overall record to 9-4 with a 5-2 mark in league play.

Rogers matched the highest made shot output by a Mulerider this season with nine. He added one assist and one rebound. Brooks’ ninth double-double was a result of 19 points and 11 rebounds with one steal and an assist.

The contest saw eight lead changes with seven coming in the second half to go along with six tied scores, four of which occurred in the final twenty minutes of play.

A layup by Brooks cut the SAU deficit to a penny at 65-64 with 4:47 to play. The Tigers responded with a three-point bucket to go up four points, but it was an ‘and-1’ effort from senior guard Aaron Lucas at the 2:33 mark that again brought the Muleriders to within a point of the Tiger lead at 68-67. Over the next 70 seconds, ECU quickly engineered a 7-0 run to lead 74-67 with 1:02 to play. East Central’s lead grew to as much as nine points in the final sixty seconds before nestling at four by the final horn.

The Tigers scored ten of the game’s first 13 points as ECU built a seven-point advantage at the 13:42 mark of the opening 20 minutes of play. However, the Muleriders, much like Stella, would find their groove and engineer a 14-6 run which led to the visitor’s first lead of the contest at 17-16 with 9:11 remaining in the first half.

Aiding that stretch of +8 scoring was junior guard Kris Wyche who delivered eight points on three shots including the go-ahead trifecta. Rogers picked up for Wyche moments later as the Mississippian scored nine of SAU’s next 13 points, which included seven straight and a conversion on an old-fashioned three-point play, as the Muleriders built a 30-23 lead just prior to the under-4 media timeout.

Rogers also produced a personal 7-0 run in the second half which gave the Muleriders its last lead of the night at 62-60 with 7:19 left.

Brooks added the final two buckets for the Muleriders in the first half as the Shreveport native entered the intermission a rebound shy of a double-double. SAU led 34-30 after East Central converted a driving shot at the horn to cap the first 20 minutes of action.

ECU dominated inside outscoring the Muleriders by 18 points in the paint in addition to grabbing ten more rebounds.

On Saturday, the Muleriders head south to Durant as a 3 p.m. tipoff with Southeastern Oklahoma State inside Bloomer Sullivan Arena wraps up the team’s first Oklahoma swing of the season.

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WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Ma’Darius Hobson nailed a long two-pointer with one second remaining in overtime on Thursday to give the Ouachita Baptist University men’s basketball team an 82-81 road win over Southwestern Oklahoma State.

Hobson’s game-winner was right in front of the Ouachita (3-8, 1-4 GAC) bench to give the Tigers their first conference victory and first road win of the season.

Ouachita led by as many as 11 points in the first half, and held a 10-point lead of 46-36 at the halftime break.

SWOSU (3-8, 2-4 GAC) rallied in the second half to outscore the Tigers 38-28 to force overtime. Neither team scored in the final 1:44 of the second half.

Prior to Hobson’s game-winner, neither team had scored since SWOSU went up by one on a three-pointer with 2:15 remaining in the extra period.

Hobson led the Tigers with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting. He also had a team high seven rebounds and four assists. Tylar Haynes added 15 points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench. Alex Scariolo added 13 points and five boards. T’vondrick Henryhad 11 points.

The Tigers carry their momentum a couple hours north to take on Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.

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RUSSELLVILLE – For the first time in what has been an illustrious career as a Mulerider, Southern Arkansas senior forward Devante Brooks has been named the Great American Conference’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Week. The official announcement was made early Monday afternoon by the league and comes after Brooks delivered a pair of impressive performances this past weekend to help the Muleriders to two league wins.

A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Brooks became the second Mulerider in program history, the first in the program’s NCAA Era and the first player in GAC history to collect 1,000 rebounds which he reached with his ninth board of the night in Thursday’s 69-49 win over Northwestern Oklahoma. Double-doubles in both wins ran his season total to eight, improved his streak to seven and stood as the 36th and 37th such efforts of his career, respectively, which continues to build as the most in league history.

He averaged 17 points per game behind an overall shooting clip of 50% and he grabbed 15.5 rebounds per game. Brooks scored 21 points and added 15 rebounds to his season ledger against the Rangers and two nights later he followed that effort with 13 points and 16 rebounds in a 70-41 win over Southwestern Oklahoma.

For his career, Brooks has recorded 10+ rebounds in a game 37 times and has eclipsed ten points in 68 games.

Devante and the Muleriders prepare for their first Oklahoma road swing of the season as East Central (1/6) and Southeastern Oklahoma (1/8) await Southern Arkansas this weekend.

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SEARCY – In a game that had 17 lead changes, Harding grabbed the lead for good on a Taylor Currie jumper with 9:35 left and the Bisons held off a late charge from Great American Conference leader Southeastern Oklahoma upsetting the Savage Storm, 76-73, Saturday at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.

Harding snapped a four-game home skid with the victory and improved to 4-8 overall and 2-4 in conference games. Southeastern Oklahoma had a nine-game winning streak snapped and fell to 9-2 overall and 4-1 in the GAC.

“The guys came out and had great energy and great focus,” head coach Jeff Morgan said. “Who knows where it will go from here, but I really feel like this team is buying in and believing in each other.”

Currie’s jumper gave Harding the lead 57-56, and the Bisons pushed their advantage to eight at 71-63 with 3:51 left on two Stetson Smithson layups.

Southeastern scored the next seven points and cut the Harding lead to 71-70 on an Ante Brzovic dunk with 1:25 left. Harding ended the run with another Currie layup at the 1:05 mark, and Sam Henderson made a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left to push Harding’s lead to 76-70.

Southeastern’s Adam Dworsky came right back with a 3-pointer, but the Savage Storm missed two 3s late that could have tied the game.

Harding limited Southeastern to a season-low 37.5% shooting. The Savage Storm had not shot below 43% in a game this season. Southeastern also had a season-high 14 turnovers.

Currie and Smithson led Harding with 20 points each, and Ramiro Santiago added 10.

Kellen Manek led Southeastern with 21 points. Brzovic had 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Savage Storm.

Harding had one of its best first halves of the season, leading 39-37 at the break. Southeastern, one of the best 3-point shooting teams in Division II, made only 7 of 22 (32%) in the first half, and Harding held a 20-12 advantage in the paint with only three turnovers.

The lead changed hands 11 times in the first half.

Harding returns to action Thursday for its first Oklahoma road trip in two years. The Bisons will take on Oklahoma Baptist in Shawnee and will play Southern Nazarene Saturday in Bethany.

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MAGNOLIA – For the third consecutive game, Southern Arkansas reached the century mark in scoring and on Tuesday evening inside the W.T. Watson Center it was the 109^th shot attempt from the Muleriders that broke the single-game scoring record as sophomore guard Jenae Jennings drove inside the paint for the final bucket at the horn as SAU topped Champion Christian 115-65 in the former’s final nonconference game of the season.

The Muleriders (7-2) have now scored 100+ points in four games this season after having eclipsed triple digits in scoring just six times since 1995-96 entering this season. The new single-game scoring mark of 115 tops the 114-point output against Wiley College during the 1997-98 season. SAU scored 22 first-quarter points, opened up the contest with 37 points before the intermission and finished with 56 points in the second half.

Fourteen Muleriders played in the blowout win with five scoring in double figures and bench players accounting for 82 points. Junior guard Jessica Jones led SAU with 15 points and finished a rebound shy of a double-double, while adding four assists and a steal. Sophomore guard Braydyn Hill followed with a dozen points as she made all five of her attempts from the field to go along with three assists and three steals.

Three players scored 11 points as junior guard Kenzie Ezekiel, senior forward Maggie Evans, and junior forward Doriana Brown rounded out scoring. Evans added nine rebounds, six steals and two assists. Brown recorded five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Senior forward Lillie Moore registered 16 rebounds and was a basket shy of a double-double.

SAU grabbed a single-game program record 80 rebounds which included 37 on the offensive end of the floor. The team’s 42 field goals made are the third-most in a single game. The Muleriders forced 33 turnovers which led to 33 points and collected 24 steals (T5th most in single game).

Champion Christian scored the game’s first seven points, before the Muleriders ended the opening ten minutes on a 22-7 run. SAU took its final lead at 8-7, and while the Tigers tied the game at 10, the Muleriders would not allow the visitors to regain the lead. Southern Arkansas shot a quarter-best 43.3% in the second ten minutes which included a 41% success rate from beyond-the-arc in the same time period.

Southern Arkansas faces one more test before the Christmas holiday. The Muleriders hit the road on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tipoff in Russellville against Arkansas Tech. Live coverage links for all of the action inside Tucker Coliseum are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.

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