Alva Review-Courier -

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – No. 8 Southwestern Oklahoma held Harding to a season-low point total in a 70-42 victory over the Lady Bisons in the semifinals of the Great American Conference Tournament Saturday at Bruin Fieldhouse. Southwestern is the tournament's top seed and the Central Region's top-ranked team.

The loss ended Harding's season with a 21-9 overall record, the 10th 20-win season in program history and fifth for head coach Tim Kirby. Southwestern won its 29th consecutive game and improved to 29-1. The Bulldogs will take on the winner of Arkansas Tech and Southern Nazarene in Sunday's championship game.

Southwestern outscored Harding 9-0 at the free throw line and 24-11 overall in the third quarter. Amanda Kearney made a layup with 4:59 left in the period. It was Harding's only field goal during a 15-2 Southwestern run over the final 6:27 in the third quarter. The Bulldogs led 51-35 after three.

Southwestern pull away with a 19-7 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter.

Southwestern led by as many as 15 points with 8:06 left in the first half, but Harding whittled away at the lead and pulled within four points with an 8-0 run late in the half.

Harding outscored Southwestern 16-8 in the second quarter. The Bulldogs shot only 3 of 17 in the quarter and missed all six 3-point attempts. The Lady Bisons shot 33 percent in the first half but missed all seven 3-pointers.

Harding's 42 points were its fewest since a 41-40 loss to Benedict in 2010.

Kearney led Harding with 11 points, and Cheyenne Brown had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Hayden Priddy led Southwestern with 19 points.