KANSAS CITY – John Brown junior Terrah Stephens was named NAIA Women’s Basketball National Player of the Week for Week 8 of the 2021-2022 season.

In JBU’s 78-73 overtime win over Panhandle State, Stephens rewrote three single-game program records, including total points, field goals made and field goals attempted by finishing the afternoon with a 45-point outing on 18-of-27 shooting from the floor. Finishing 9-of-10 from the charity stripe, she completed her fifth double-double of the season with 11 rebounds.

Stephens also hit another milestone and punched her ticket into the 1,000 point club. The Wyandotte, Okla. native became the 19th entry onto the prestigious list in the third when her hook shot fell after shedding a defender with a pivot back into the middle.

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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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STATESBORO, Ga. – For the second consecutive game, the Arkansas State women’s basketball team faced a double-digit second-half deficit on the road on Thursday at Georgia Southern.

However, A-State (7-7, 0-1 SBC) could not make it two straight come-from-behind road triumphs, falling 84-75 to the Eagles (10-3, 1-0) at Hanner Fieldhouse. The Red Wolves trailed by as much as 13 early in the fourth quarter and clawed back to cut it to one with under 2 minutes remaining, but strong free-throw shooting late allowed the Eagles to hold on for the win to open Sun Belt Conference play.

Lauryn Pendleton led a trio of double-digit scorers for A-State with 16 points off the bench to go along with 6 rebounds. Trinitee Jackson dropped 10 points and 6 boards while Keya Patton also chipped in 10 points. Morgan Wallace was the game’s top rebounder, grabbing 10 off the glass.

A-State shot 39.7 percent from the field on 25 of 63 shooting and connected on 19 of 26 from the free-throw line (73.1 percent). Every player who saw time for the Red Wolves scored in the contest.

Georgia Southern’s Mya Burns led all players with 23 points, while Ja’nya Love Hill added 13. Simone James and Thaniya Marks tallied 10 points apiece. James and Tsubasa Nisbet led the Eagles with 7 rebounds apiece as Georgia Southern out-rebounded A-State 45-39. The Eagles shot 43.1 percent (28 of 65) from the floor and 74.2 percent (23 of 31) from the charity stripe, including 10 of 12 in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles scored five of the game’s first seven points before A-State’s lone lead in the outing came midway through the quarter on a jumper by Kiayra Ellis. A 7-0 run put the Eagles ahead 14-8 before a Patton trey made it 18-15 late in the period. Georgia Southern led 21-15 after the first 10 minutes.

A Jackson layup knotted it up at 23-all to cap off an 8-2 run to open the second quarter, but the Eagles hit key shots down the stretch to own a five-point lead at halftime. A-State outscored Georgia Southern 22-21 in the quarter.

Georgia Southern managed to create some distance in the third quarter, leading by as much as 12 on a three by Daeja Holmes at the 1:08 mark that made it 65-53. After a Jade Upshaw corner three cut it back down to single digits, Love-Hill netted a jumper in the paint to give her team a 67-56 advantage entering the final quarter.

A lay-in by Lydia Freeman early in the fourth gave Georgia Southern its largest lead of the day at 69-56 but then A-State picked up the pressure defensively and began to battle back. Pendleton helped lead that charge with six points of a 13-2 stretch that made it a two-point contest with 2:50 to play. After a pair of Burns free throws made it 73-69, Mailyn Wilkerson found Patton in the corner off the inbounds for the three to make it 73-72 with 1:54 remaining.

That would be as close as it would get, however, as Georgia Southern closed on an 11-3 run that included eight free throws to close out the contest.

A-State returns home to host Louisiana at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, to open a four-game home stand. The Red Wolves were originally slated to ring in the new year at home against Georgia State on Saturday, but COVID-19 concerns within the GSU program caused the game in Jonesboro to be canceled.

Thursday’s game against the Ragin’ Cajuns will be broadcast on ESPN+, while the radio broadcast can be heard on the EAB Red Wolves Sports Network flagship station 95.3/96.9 The Ticket/970 AM.

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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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JONESBORO – Arkansas State Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Bowen announced Monday night that Matt Daniel has chosen to resign his position as head women’s basketball coach, effective immediately.

“I was informed tonight by Matt Daniel that he has decided to resign as our head women’s basketball coach,” Bowen said.  “I was disappointed to learn of his decision, and I was emphatic in my conversation with him that we wanted him to remain as our head coach.  While Coach Daniel’s decision to resign isn’t our Athletics Department’s desired outcome, we want to thank him for everything he did for our program as head coach and wish him the best moving forward.”

Daniel was in his third season as head coach of the A-State women’s basketball program, which has played 10 games this season.  Bowen said an interim head coach will be announced Tuesday morning.

“I want to thank Dr. (Kelly) Damphousse and Dr. (Chuck) Welch for the opportunity to serve as the head women’s basketball coach at Arkansas State,” said Daniel.  “I love A-State and NEA, and I’m proud to call Jonesboro my hometown.  Personally, I believe it is in my and my family’s best interest that I step aside and allow the athletics administration to get their coach in place.”

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RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Despite grabbing more than 50 rebounds for the fifth time in its last six games, Harding could not overcome 24% shooting from the field and fell 67-56 to Arkansas Tech Monday in a matchup of the top two teams in the Great American Conference Eastern Division.

The loss snapped a five-game Harding winning streak and dropped the Lady Bisons to 5-3 overall and in the GAC. Arkansas Tech remained undefeated at 8-0 overall and 7-0 in conference and ran its home winning streak to eight games dating to last season.

“I thought we batted pretty well for most of the night,” Harding head coach Tim Kirby said. “We hung around but when we needed to make a big play, we just came up empty.”

Harding pulled within six points twice in the fourth quarter, but Tech scored each time and pulled away.

The Lady Bisons had 55 total rebounds, including 25 offensive rebounds. Harding outscored Tech 18-0 on second-chance points, but Tech shot 45% from the field to hold off the Lady Bisons.

Carissa Caples, playing her 100th game at Harding, scored 10 points. Katelyn Burtch also added a career-high 10 points. Sage Hawley had eight points and led the team with 14 rebounds and six assists.

Tech’s Nikki Metcalfe was key for Arkansas Tech on both ends. She led the team with 16 points and tied a Tech record with 11 blocked shots.

Neither team shot well in the third quarter. Tech outscored Harding 11-10. The Lady Bisons were 3 of 19 (15.8%) from the field but made 4 of 6 free throws.

Tech led by 10 early in the second quarter, but Harding got key 3-pointers from Lexie Davis, Kylee Coulter and Kennedy Cooper in the quarter to stay close. Hawley made a turnaround jumper with 37 seconds left to cut Tech’s halftime lead to 35-29. Harding shot 40% in the quarter but only 26.5% in the half. Tech shot 50% from the field (14 of 28), the 3-point line (4 of 8) and the free-throw line (3 of 6).

Arkansas Tech scored the first 10 points before Hannah Collins drained a 3-pointer from the right baseline. Harding missed its first six shots and made only one of its first 10. The Lady Bisons shot 3 of 19 in the quarter, but two of them were 3-pointers. Harding trailed 16-5 but scored the last six points of the quarter.

The Lady Bisons return to the Rhodes-Reaves Field House Thursday to take on Southern Arkansas.

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RUSSELLVILLE – The No. 19/18 ranked Arkansas Tech women’s basketball team dominated both sides of the court from the opening tip to the final horn as they routed visiting Henderson State by a score of 98-62 on Thursday night inside Tucker Coliseum.

The win improves the Golden Suns to an unblemished 7-0 record overall and a 6-0 mark in the Great American Conference.

The dominance in the game started early for the Golden Suns as they scored the game’s first points on their very first possession to stake claim to their one and only lead. From there on, the Golden Suns took control of the game thanks to a remarkable shooting effort.

In the first quarter alone, the Golden Suns attempted 16 field goals and made 12 of them as they were an unconscious 75% overall. Naturally, the Golden Suns would not continue to shoot at such a high clip as the game wore on, but they still managed to shoot at least 50% from the field in each of the final three quarters of play. All told, the Golden Suns shot 57% overall for the game, going 38-of-67.

The 57% shooting for the Golden Suns matched a season-high that they first achieved in their 115-94 win over Southern Arkansas back on January 14.

As they have done all season long, the Golden Suns got offensive production from multiple sources. Against the Reddies, all 13 players that saw action scored at least two points. Five of those players scored in double figures with Jalei Oglesby scoring a game-high 18 points off the bench. Nikki Metcalfe was next in scoring with 14 points. She also added 10 rebounds to notch her second double-double of the season.

Ashlei Lopez was next in scoring with 13 points. Jayana Sanders and Trelyn Tyler rounded out double-figure scoring with 12 points each.

The Golden Suns will now prepare for a Monday night clash with rival Harding. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. inside Tucker Coliseum.

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BATESVILLE – Every player who played for the 18^th-ranked Lyon College women’s basketball team scored as the Scots cruised to a 74-29 victory over Hannibal-LaGrange on Thursday night in Becknell Gymnasium. The Scots improved to 9-1 overall and in the American Midwest Conference, while HLGU fell to 1-15 (0-10 AMC).

The Scots took a 17-8 lead after the first quarter and put the game away in the second period, outscoring the Trojans, 26-5, over the next 10 minutes.

Lyon shot 53.6% for the game, going 30-of-56 from the field as a team and limited HLGU to just 29.2% shooting (14-of-48).

Jade Giron led all scorers with a game-high 22 points, while Paige Kelley and Klaudija Bacovic finished in double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Bacovic recorded her first-career double-double in the win with 10 rebounds to go along with her 12 points.

The Scots will continue their home stand on Saturday when they host Missouri Baptist in another AMC matchup at 1 p.m.

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ARKADELPHIA – Harding trailed by 17 points with just more than five minutes left in regulation but used a stifling pressure defense in a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Henderson State, 98-92, Saturday in Great American Conference women’s basketball action at the Duke Wells Center.

The win extended Harding’s streak to four straight and moved the Lady Bisons to 4-2 overall and in conference games. Henderson State, playing for the first time since a 92-73 loss to Harding on Jan. 14, fell to 1-3 overall and in conference.

Henderson State’s Gracie Raby hit a layup with 5:16 left in regulation to give Henderson State a 77-60 lead. The comeback began with a Jacie Evans 3-pointer, the first of four 3-pointers down the stretch. Harding scored the last nine points with Jordan Elder hitting a 3-pointer, followed by a Kylee Coulter layup and an Evans layup to pull Harding within 81-79.

After a Harding steal, the Lady Bisons wound up with the ball with 7.4 seconds left. Evans caught the ball in the middle of the lane, turned and nailed a jumper with 2.7 seconds left to tie the game. Henderson State did not get a shot off in its last possession.

“We just figured out we could start making plays,” Harding head coach Tim Kirby said. “As it was happening, you could see their confidence growing.”

Harding shot 50% in overtime and outscored Henderson State 17-11 in the extra period. Coulter made the first shot of overtime, and Harding never trailed.

Elder and Evans led Harding with 21 points apiece. Hannah Collinsscored a season-high 18 points, and Coulter had 14.

Henderson State closed the first quarter on a 13-2 run over the final 4:18 and led 22-8 after one. The Reddies shot 47% and made three 3-pointers. Harding shot only 25% and did not connect on a 3.

Harding trailed by as many as 17 points in the second quarter. Henderson State’s Maci Mains made a 3-pointer, and Ashley Farrar added two free throws on the next possession to give the Reddies a 37-20 lead.

Harding went into a full-court pressure defense and answered with a 17-3 run over the final 3:37. The Lady Bisons had five different players score during that stretch with Hannah Collins scoring the final four points, including two free throws with 12 seconds remaining. Henderson State missed its final five shots and committed five turnovers in the quarter’s final four minutes.

“We practice the press a lot but we don’t use it very much,” Kirby said. “We needed it today and it made a big difference.”

Lady Bisons made only one of their first nine shots in the third quarter before Lexi Davis hit a 3-pointer from the right baseline to pull Harding within 50-42.

Henderson State answered every Harding run in the third quarter, shot 50% in the period and led 65-55 entering the fourth.

Ashley Farrar led Henderson State with 32 points, shooting 12 of 26 from the field.

Harding shot 40% for the game, attempting 85 shots, second most in a game in program history.

Due to COVID-19 protocols, Harding is unsure of its next opponent and date. Check HardingSports.com for updates.

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MAGNOLIA – Carissa Caples scored 29 points, and Brooke Bradley added a career-high 20 points to lead a shorthanded Harding squad to an 87-80 victory over Southern Arkansas in Great American Conference women’s action at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.

Harding (3-2, 3-2) played the game with only eight available players due to COVID-19 protocols. Southern Arkansas (1-3, 1-3) was in action for the first time in two weeks, also due to COVID-19 protocols.

Despite the game played at a frantic pace, Harding had only 20 turnovers. Last season in a loss to Southern Arkansas, Harding had 46.

“Anytime you face a team that’s going to press you for 40 minutes, you never know how you are going to respond,” Harding head coach Tim Kirby said. “I thought we handled the press well.”

Harding shot 55% in the first quarter and led 27-18. The Lady Bisons made five 3-pointers in the period. Harding continued to shoot well in the second quarter, hitting 47% and extending its lead to as many as 17 points.

A late corner 3-pointer from Lexi Davis gave the Lady Bisons a 51-36 lead at halftime.

Southern Arkansas outscored Harding 21-14 in the third quarter, but the Lady Bisons still held a 65-57 lead entering the fourth.

In the final quarter, Harding’s lead never went below six points, and the Lady Bisons made 10 of 12 free throws to seal the victory.

“Southern Arkansas is a very scrappy team,” Kirby said. “And I thought we scrapped with them.”

Caples made 11 of 19 shots, including two 3-pointers, and was 5 of 5 at the free throw line.

Bradley and Kylie Coulter both recorded their first career double-doubles. Bradley had 11 rebounds to go with her 20 points, and Coulter had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Lexi Davis had a career-high 12 points, and Jordan Elder had 11 points and a team-high six assists.

Diamond Morris and Ariana Guinn had 14 points each to lead Southern Arkansas.

Harding’s next scheduled game is Saturday at Henderson State. The Lady Reddies are currently sitting out due to COVID-19 protocols. A decision about the game will likely come Friday.

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