SEARCY – Harding head coach Tim Kirby collected his 300th victory Thursday as the Lady Bisons used a strong third quarter to defeat Henderson State, 92-73, in Great American Conference action at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.

“Win No. 300 means that we’ve had some really good players,” Kirby said of the milestone, which he was unaware of when the game ended.

After dropping its first two games of the season on the road, Harding (1-2, 1-2) returned home and played its best game of the season, winning for the eighth straight time at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House. The team will look to make it nine Saturday when Southern Arkansas visits Searcy.

Henderson State dropped its second straight road game and fell to 1-2 overall and in the GAC.

Harding led 51-41 at halftime, and blew the game wide open in the third quarter. The Reddies opened the quarter with a 3-pointer, but the Lady Bisons responded with a 20-3 run over the next five minutes and led by 24 when Kylee Coulternailed a 3-pointer to with 2:53 left in the quarter. Harding held Henderson State to only 22% shooting and led 73-53 entering the fourth.

“It was big to be able to go into the fourth quarter without thinking that we had to score on every possession,” Kirby said.

Kennedy Cooper led Harding with a season-high 17 points and 11 rebounds, her second double-double of the season and sixth of her career. Carissa Caples scored 16 points and led the team with five assists. Freshman Sage Hawley scored 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds for her first career double-double, and fellow freshman Lexi Davis made three 3-pointers and scored 11.

The Lady Bisons pushed the lead to as many as 25 points midway through the final quarter.

Harding weathered a 15-2 Henderson State run in the second quarter, answering it with an 11-2 run to lead 51-41 at halftime. The Lady Bisons shot 50% in the quarter and made three 3-pointers.

Harding overcame an early deficit to lead 28-20 after one quarter, ending the period on an 11-0 run. The Lady Bisons scored 16 of their 28 points in the paint and shot 63% from the field. Harding also connected on 7 of 9 free throws. Cooper scored eight points in the period. Henderson State made four early 3-pointers but cooled off to shot 40% in the period.

Harding outrebounded Henderson State 51-33. The Lady Bisons outscored the Reddies 52-24 in the paint.

Ashley Farrar led Henderson State with 23 points, shooting 9 of 20 from the field.

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A busy week around the conference got underway early. And Monday was a pretty special day for Harding, in both women’s basketball and softball. Also, we get to hear from both Tim Kirby and A’ndrea Haney.

GAC Weekly Mar. 14, 2017

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SEARCY—The Harding Lady Bisons were named NCAA Division II Central Region champions after staging a furious 18-point comeback, and they got to do it all in front of their home crowd.

The No. 2 seed Lady Bisons (30-3) defeated the top seed Emporia State Lady Hornets (29-5), 58-56, in an instant classic on Monday night. The win advanced the Lady Bisons to an Elite Eight appearance next week in Columbus, Ohio.

The Bisons are the first team in Great American Conference history to make it to the Elite Eight. The win gave Harding 30 wins on the year, the most in team history.

The game was played in front of a sold out Rhodes-Reeves Field House. Bisons coach Tim Kirby said the crowd’s energy was huge for his team’s success.

“The crowd really got into the game, I can’t say enough about that,” Kirby said. “They were worth some points tonight.”

Sydnie Jones and A’ndrea Haney led the Bisons in scoring, each with 16. Caroline Hogue also added 13. Kathryn Flott led the Hornets with 18 and Addie Lackey added 13.

The Bisons outscored the Hornets 34-18 in the second half, 16-8 in the fourth. The Hornets came in averaging 78.2 points per game, but the Bisons held them 22 points below their average.

The Bisons made it a one-point game after Hogue converted an and-1 layup to make it 50-49 with 6:07 remaining in the fourth. The next basket did not come until 3:53 when Jacee Kramer connected on two free throws to extend the Hornets lead to 52-49.

Each team traded buckets for the next three minutes until Jones gave the Bisons a 57-56 lead after connecting on a layup with 41 seconds remaining. This was their first lead since 7-6 early in the first quarter.

Riley Rose split a pair of free throws with nine seconds left that put the Bisons up two. The Lady Hornets called a timeout with 4.4 seconds remaining and the crowd was electric. The Hornets had a nice look at a right-side three but Addie Lackey could not connect and Rose secured the rebound to end it. Haney credited her teammates’ effort and the crowd when describing the last stop.

“I think it comes down to heart and wanting it more. That’s all defense is,” Haney said. “We had faith in each other that we could do our jobs and the crowd really pumped us up.”

Coach Kirby spoke highly of Haney after the game and got emotional when talking about her importance to the team.

“I brag on A’ndrea all the time. Her toughness and the great shape she is in pays off in games like this,” Kirby said. “This is the toughest person I’ve ever met.”

The Hornets held a 38-24 lead at half and their lead grew to 18 with 8:55 left in the third. Just when the Bisons seemed to be done, they went on an 18-6 run to close the third quarter only trailing by six. Five different Bisons scored during the run, including a three from Peyton Padgett to make it 48-42 Hornets with 2:32 left in the third. Neither team scored to finish the quarter.

The Bisons went cold in the second and the Hornets took advantage as they outscored them 24-13 in the quarter. Offensive rebounding was a key factor in the Hornets run, as they scored 12 second chance points compared to the Bisons two. The Hornets had 21 offensive rebounds on the night.

The first quarter was tightly contested as the biggest lead was four. The Hornets outscored the Bisons 10-6 in the paint and took a 14-11 lead into the second.

The all-tournament team was announced after the game. Bisons Hogue, Haney and Jones were selected along with Hornets Kelly Moten and Flott.

The Elite Eight begins on March 21.

1^st      2^nd     3^rd     4^th       Total

HU      11       13       18       16         58

ES       14       24       10         8         56

Lady Bisons (30-3) – Sydnie Jones 16, A’ndrea Haney 16, Caroline Hogue 13, Riley Rose 8, Peyton Padgett 3, Sydney Layrock 2

Lady Hornets (29-5) – Kathryn Flott 18, Addie Lackey 13, Jacee Kramer 12, Kelly Moten 6, Kyrstie Miller 5, Jessica Wayne 2

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It’s an NCAA Tournament update. We visit today with Harding WBB coach Tim Kirby.

GAC Weekly Mar. 10, 2017

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On today’s edition, Harding women’s basketball coach Tim Kirby talks about his team’s third regular season title in four years.

GAC Weekly Feb. 20, 2017

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