ADA – The East Central University women's basketball team dropped a 53-58 decision to Harding in a hard fought game at the Kerr Activities Center in Great American Conference action.

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The Tigers (15-9, 11-7 GAC) were led by senior Erin Walling who tallied a career-high 28 points and added six rebounds.  Senior Ashleigh Kelman-Poto added 10 points and eight boards.

The Bison (19-5, 15-3 GAC) opened the game on a 6-2 run in the first four minutes, but ECU quickly tied the game at six a minute later.  Harding continued to fight and used a 12-2 run until the middle of the stanza to push out to an 8-18 advantage.

After trading shots for the next two minutes, the Tigers made a late push and used  a 13-6 run until two minutes remained to cut the deficit to two (24-26).  However, Harding wasn't done pushing the tempo in the half and went on a 5-2 run in the remaining time to take a 26-31 lead into the locker room.

ECU came out ready to fight in the second half and put together a 5-0 run in the opening 1:30 to tie the game at 31.  The Bison responded with a 10-0 run of their own to push the lead back out to double-digits.

The teams then traded runs through most of the remaining time, with Harding taking a 12-point lead with 4:40 left to play.  The Tigers came fighting back and cut the disadvantage to four over the next four minutes (49-53) on an 8-2 run. 

While ECU was able to hold the Bison without a field goal in the final three minutes they could not get closer than three (53-56), as Harding made 5-of-6 free throw attempts on the way to the 53-58 win.

Both teams struggled with shooting percentages in the game, with Harding earning a key 4-of-16 mark from beyond the arc to a 0-of-7 mark by ECU.

The Tigers now have two regular-season games left to play, with the first being a road trip to arch rival Southeastern Oklahoma State, Thursday, Feb. 26 for a 5:30 p.m. tip.  The final game of the season will be against Southern Nazarene, Saturday, Feb. 28 at 5:30 p.m. in the Kerr Activities Center.