ADA – The East Central University women's basketball team handed Harding its first Great American Conference loss of the season, with a 61-50 victory at the Kerr Activities Center.
Photo GalleryThe Tigers (2-7, 2-3 GAC) were paced by sophomore
Aalyiah Blakely, with 14 points and four rebounds. Junior
Alexa Adair added 15 points, while junior
Jalyn Jackson tallied eight points and rebounds.
ECU jumped out to an early 4-0 advantage in the first three minutes before allowing the Bisons (6-3, 4-1 GAC) to score. The Tigers kept the offensive and defensive pressure up through the entire first quarter, leading 15-6 heading into the second quarter.
ECU used a few runs through the first six minutes of the second quarter to push the advantage out to 17 (31-14). In the final 1:30, Harding used a 5-0 run to cut into the advantage before the intermission, but ECU still led 34-21.
The teams traded points over the first 2:30 of the third quarter, with ECU leading by 14 (40-26), with 7:32 left. The Bisons then mounted a 7-0 run to cut the lead to seven (40-33), with two minutes left in the stanza, but the Tigers went on a 5-2 run the rest of the time for a 45-35 advantage.
The final stanza was a tight battle from start to finish, but ECU kept its advantage between eight and 11 points and held on for the 61-50 victory.
The key to the victory came on the glass, where the Tigers earned a 37-28 advantage and tallied seven second-chance points to the Bisons two.
ECU will now get ready to battle the other team from the GAC that was undefeated heading into this weekend's games, as Arkansas Tech comes to the Kerr Activities Center, Saturday, Jan. 9 for a 1 p.m. tip.
