The Lady Bison basketball team faced East Central University in Ada, Okla. on Saturday, Feb. 21. The Lady Bisons were victorious in their match up against the Lady tigers with a score of 58-53.

The team’s two leading scorers were senior guard Arielle Saunders with a team high of 18 and freshman forward Sydney Layrock finishing behind her with 12.

“During the game we had a lot of big moments,” Layrock said. “We got stops when we needed to, we hit free throws when we needed them and a lot of players hit shots when we needed them.”

The Lady Bisons stresses having a stronger defensive presence, and improving their defense when on the road shows they are seeing results.

“We have really been emphasizing our defense this past week, and we came out and showed a strong defensive mindset for the entire game,” Saunders said. “It’s always tough to win on the road, so getting two big road wins last week was big for us.”

The Lady Bisons’ record is now 19-5 overall and 15-3 in the Great American Conference (GAC). The team is currently sitting atop the conference and has clinched a birth into the GAC tournament.

Layrock said the team has become a force to be reckoned with and seem to get the job done when the team has needed it the most.

As the season moves forward, the team will continue to work toward finishing up the season and head into conference tournament.

“I’m looking forward to the next game and just taking it one game at a time,” Layrock said. “I’m not ready for the team to be done any time soon.”

The women are ready for the rest of the season and will continue to work to improve its teams defense as it approachs the coming games.

“I was proud of the way we played defensively,” Saunders said. “Between getting stops and rebounding well, we feel good about the game. Going into the postseason and the conference tournament next week, it’s extra important for us to be solid on that end of the floor. The game Saturday was a good place to build off of for that aspect of our preparation.”

The team has focused on the aspect of defense and looks to continue improving on it week after week.

“We have improved our defense,” Layrock said. “Once we did that our shots started to fall.”

The Lady Bisons play their last regular season matchup Feb. 28. at the Rhodes Field House against Ouachita Baptist University at 5:30 p.m. The team will then travel to Bartlesville, Okla., to compete in the GAC tournament that goes from March 3-8.