ARKADELPHIA, ARK. – The East Central University women's basketball team played a hard fought game with Ouachita Baptist, but fell short, 58-61, in Great American Conference action.

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The Tigers (1-5, 1-3 GAC) were led by junior Tori Huff, with a career high 15 points, four rebounds, a block and a steal.  Junior Whitney Stotler added 10 points, eight boards and three assists, while sophomore Alexa Adair had 10 points and five assists.  Junior Courtney Cowan came up strong on defense with three blocks and four rebounds.

Both teams struggled to get started in the first quarter of play with no team scoring in the first minute.  However, when Ouachita got started they were strong, taking a 5-12 advantage in the first five minutes of the quarter.  The Tigers then countered with a 13-0 run to earn an 18-12 lead and finished the quarter with an 18-16 advantage.

OBU kept pushing at the start of the second quarter and continued an 8-0 run through the first three minutes to take an 18-20 lead.  ECU quickly tied the game and the teams traded baskets for the next minute before the Tigers went on an 11-4 run for the rest of the half to take a 34-27 lead into the break.

The third quarter was for Ouachita, as they opened the stanza with a 13-6 run to tie the game at 40, in the first four minutes.  The game remained close for the next two minutes when OBU used another 8-2 run to end the quarter with a 47-50 lead.

In the first four minutes of the final quarter, Ouachita extended its lead to as many as six before the Tigers caught fire again.  Over the next two minutes ECU used a 7-2 run to take a 58-57 lead.  However, OBU made four free throws down the stretch to earn the 58-61 victory.

Rebounding and free throws were the keys to the game, with Ouachita lead in both categories.  OBU out-rebounded the Tigers 44-33 and went 11-of-11 from the charity stripe, while ECU was held to a 1-of-2 mark for the game.

The Tigers will now get the next week off for finals before hitting the court again, Wednesday, Dec. 16 for a 7 p.m. game in the Kerr Activities Center against Texas A&M-Commerce.