ADA – The East Central University women's basketball team earned their first win on the 2071-18 season, with a 76-73 decision over Harding in Great American Conference action at the Kerr Activities Center.

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The Tigers (1-1, 1-1 GAC) were led by senior Alexa Adair, who tallied 23 points, while adding a rebound and two assists.  Junior Lakin Preisner added 14 points, while sophomore Maci Hanson netted 13.

The teams started out close, until half way through the first quarter.  That is when the Bisons (1-4, 0-2 GAC) started a 12-2 run over the next four minutes for a 12-point advantage.  ECU hit the final points of the stanza to end trialing 22-12.

Harding kept the advantage around 10-14 points for most of the second quarter.  However, with three minutes left the Tigers started a 5-0 run to end the half trailing by five (32-27).

The Bisons came out strong in the third quarter and increased their lead back to 12.  ECU was trailing by 10 (44-34), with five minutes left in the stanza before starting to mount their come-back.  The Tigers used a 13-5 run through the rest of the quarter to cut the deficit to two, 49-47.

ECU kept up the pressure in the fourth quarter, continuing the run to 21-6, to take a four-point lead (55-51).  The Tigers kept the lead until the half-way point of the stanza when the Bisons regained the advantage with a 4-0 run.  Harding pushed the lead to three (62-59) over the next two minutes.

However, that is when the Tigers regained control of the game, going on a 6-0 run in a minute.  The teams traded shots over the next few minutes, with each team leading by one or two points.  After a 72-all tie, with 40 seconds left, ECU took advantage of trips to the charity stripe to through for the 76-73 victory.

The Tigers will now hit the road for the next four games, starting with two games over Thanksgiving weekend in Colorado.  ECU will first play at Colorado Mines, Friday, Nov. 24 at 6 p.m. and then make the short trip to face Regis, Saturday, Nov. 25 at 2 p.m.