ADA – The East Central University women's basketball team used a second half surge to earn an 84-80 win over Henderson State in Great American Conference action at the Kerr Activities Center.

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The Tigers (13-6, 9-4 GAC) were led by senior Erin Walling, with a season-best 20 points and nine rebounds.  Fellow senior Taylor Fischer added a career-best 22 points and senior Dilan Webster earned 18 points and seven boards.

"I am very proud of our team tonight," said head coach Matt Cole.  "Henderson State came in ready to play and we needed to match their energy and found a way in the second half to get the win."

Fischer started out strong for the ECU, scoring the Tigers first eight points of the game.  The teams kept things close for the first two minutes, with ECU holding an 8-7 lead.  However, that is when the Reddies made their first push of the stanza and used a 13-2 run to take the advantage over the next four minutes.

The Tigers fought back and cut the deficit to four (22-26), with a 7-0 run in the middle of the stanza, and then held the deficit between three and five points for the next minute.  HSU then made another push, this time with a 15-4 run over the next five minutes, to push the lead to 28-42.  ECU kept fighting and in the final two minutes of the half used a 7-2 run to go into the locker room with a 39-49 disadvantage.

The break was a good one for the Tigers, who came out and used a 13-2 run in the first five minutes of the stanza to take a 52-51 advantage.  The teams kept things close from there, with HSU being the first to pull ahead by more than three, with 8:58 remaining to play.  The Reddies took a five-point advantage (61-66), but ECU countered with a 10-0 run over the next four minutes to gain control.

HSU continued to fight and tied the game a 74, with 2:05 left to play.  But the Tigers remained in control and went on a 10-6 run in the final minutes to secure the 84-80 victory.
The game came down to five more made free throws by ECU and two more overall shots, with the Tigers earning a slight 50.8% to 45.2% lead in overall shooting.

ECU will remain at home to face Arkansas-Monticello, Saturday, Feb. 7 at 1 p.m. in the Kerr Activities Center before hitting the road for the next two games.