Alva Review-Courier -

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – The No. 15/11 Lady Bulldogs trailed Oklahoma Baptist 69-53 at the 7:51 mark of the fourth quarter before going on a 25-0 run to regain their lead and eventually earn the hard fought come from behind victory. The win advances SWOSU to the semifinals of the GAC Tournament on Saturday, March 3rd at 5:45 pm against the winner of Harding and Southeastern.

SWOSU faced adversity from the get-go as both Hayden Priddy and Tyra Aska picked up two first quarter fouls and were forced to sit for much of the first half. The bench played its part though, stepping in to give the Dawgs solid minutes and keep things rolling. Meanwhile, Hailey Tucker – playing in her high school gym – tallied 20 first half points which helped SWOSU take a 41-38 lead into the half time locker room.

Momentum went to Oklahoma Baptist in the third quarter after they outscored the Lady Dawgs by nine points in the first 10-minute session out of halftime. It was SWOSU's worst shooting quarter of the game, finishing just 3-of-25 (12%) from the field with the same amount of free throws made (6) as points off of field goals (6). Heading into the fourth quarter, the Lady Bison led 59-53.

To start the fourth quarter, OBU continued riding their wave of momentum with a 10-0 run that gave them a 16-point lead with 7:51 left to play. On the other end of the court, Tucker connected on a deep three to finally end the run and gave the SWOSU side a reason to celebrate as the bench came to their feet in approval.

From that point on, it was all Lady Bulldogs.

Now down 13 points with 7:40 left to go, SWOSU mounted their comeback behind a 25-0 run that spanned almost the entire rest of the game. The Lady Bulldogs turned up the intensity on defense and forced Oklahoma Baptist into missing 12 of their final 13 field goals attempted in the game. The Lady Bison didn't score again until there were 15 seconds remaining in the game.

On offense in the fourth quarter, Tucker led the way with 10 points followed by Bethany Franks who added seven of her own. Taylor Hedrick got a pair of layups to fall while Tyra Aska and Taber Beer both notched three points.

SWOSU shot just 30.5% from the field in the game – the Dawgs' worst shooting performance of the season – but heated up when they needed to in the fourth quarter to get the job done. Oklahoma Baptist finished slightly above SWOSU at 36% shooting for the game, but shot just 28% from the floor in the fourth quarter.

Hailey Tucker turned in a career high scoring performance of 34 points while adding eight rebounds, three blocks, and two steals to her stat line. Bethany Franks grabbed a career high 21 rebounds in the game and pitched in 14 points. Tyra Aska, SWOSU's only other double figure scorer, finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.

The Lady Bulldogs (26-3) will take Friday off and await the winner of Harding and Southeastern who they will face off against a day later.