SHAWNEE, Okla. – Despite a 70-51 loss to Oklahoma Baptist University in the final game of the 2022-23 regular season, the East Central University women's basketball team will be the No. 7 seed at the 2023 Great American Conference Tournament Championship, March 2-5 at Fire Lake Arena.
 
ECU finished the regular season 11-15 overall and 8-14 in conference play.

"OBU played a really good game," Interim Head Coach Heather Hurt said. "We did not execute defensively, and our ability to rebound was extremely poor. We did not focus on the adjustments that needed to be made mid-game."
 
OBU scored the first basket of the game before ECU took the lead with Kennedy Cummings' jumper and Ashlyn Evans-Thompson's pair of free throws. But then the Tigers went cold. ECU didn't score for two minutes until Kate Ogle hit a jumper that ended a 10-0 run by OBU. By the end of the first, the Tigers would trail 22-12.
 
In the second, the Bisons got out to a hot start, going on a 10-3 scoring run to extend their lead to 17 points at 32-15. Both teams would trade baskets over the next five minutes, but OBU would remain out front 38-23 going into halftime.
 
The third quarter saw the lowest shooting percentage from both teams as the Bisons put together 14 points while the Tigers were held to just eight. Although ECU played better in the last quarter and outscored OBU 20-18, the game got away from the Tigers, and the Bisons took the 70-51 win.

 
Mackenzie Crusoe finished with a team-high 11 points and six rebounds, while Kennedy Cummings was next with eight points.
 
Tatum Havens, Emma Epperly, and Jayden Weiberg each had six points.
 
The East Central University women's basketball team will face No. 2 Harding University on Thursday, March 2 at 12:00 p.m. in the Great American Conference Tournament.