After being voted the Great American Conference preseason favorite, the Lady Bison basketball team is 1-1 in exhibition games.
Harding won five of the nine votes for the favorite spot, beating out last year’s conference tournament champion Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
The Lady Bisons’ most recent game was a 68-54 defeat over Division I school, Oral Roberts University on Oct. 29. This is the third time in the last five years that they have defeated a DI school. Harding scored eight 3-pointers in the game and was led by sophomore guard Shana Holmes, who scored 17 points.
The game was the first time Oral Roberts lost to a non-Division I opponent since their 1993 season.
Junior guard Katy Preaus said she is happy with the preseason games and said they are leading up to a successful regular season.
“(The exhibition games) are going good,” Preaus said. “We’re facing some challenges, but learning from them and making adjustments. We’re getting better each game and I’m looking forward to seeing how we play out this year in conference.”
The first game Harding played this season was against another DI school, Wichita State University, on Oct. 28. Harding lost that game 88-47, but still out-rebounded their opponents, 32-37.
Holmes also led the team in the Wichita State game, scoring 15 points.
Freshman guard Amelia Bramer said she is confident in the team’s abilities based on what she has seen so far at the exhibitions.
“(The games) went well,” Bramer said. “It showed us what we need to work on and helped us learn how to play together. I think the season is going to go really well. We’ve got a lot of potential and talent and we are ready to show everyone what we’re capable of.”
The Lady Bisons next exhibition game is tonight at 6 p.m. at Western Kentucky University.
It will be Western Kentucky’s first game of the season. Last season they were 9-21.
The season officially starts on Nov. 10 at 5:30 p.m. when Christian Brothers University comes to the Rhodes Field House.
Last season, the Lady Bisons defeated the Buccaneers 74-56 and 82-54.
Men’s basketball will kick off their season on Nov. 12.
