The Lady Bisons fell one point shy of a victory over Southern Arkansas University (SAU) on Thursday, Feb. 18, losing 71-70 in the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.
The Lady Bisons shot a season high of 90 percent from the free throw line, making 18 of the 20 free throws in the game, but that was not enough. The Lady Bisons lost the lead in the second quarter when the Lady Muleriders outscored them 18-10.
The Lady Bisons had a chance to get back in the lead late in the fourth quarter when the Lady Muleriders missed two free throws with 21 seconds left, but missed a 3-pointer and a layup. The Lady Muleriders’ junior guard Tierra Tucker made two consecutive free throws with three seconds left to clinch the victory for SAU. The Lady Bisons defeated the Lady Muleriders earlier in the season 83-74. Junior guard Andi Haney said this defeat was a learning experience.
“It is hard to lose by one point because you think about all the times making one more layup or getting one more stop would have helped, but I have faith we will learn from our mistakes and it will make us stronger as a team,” Haney said.
Two days later, at Henderson State University (HSU), the Lady Bisons were defeated again, 80-67. This loss put the Lady Bisons in a three-way tie for second place in the GAC standings with two games remaining. Arkansas Tech University leads the conference for first place.
Haney had to sit out for Saturdays’ game against (HSU) due to an injury, leaving the team without their starting point guard. Haney said she hopes to be healthy by Thursdays’ game against East Central University. Sophomore forward Sydney Layrock scored 25 point, making this her fifth consecutive game to score more than 20 points. Layrock played guard in high school, and she said the transition to forward has not been easy.
“It hasn’t been easy learning a new position, but my teammates have made it easier.” said Layrock, “With a short bench and multiple injuries our team has battled a lot of adversity, but I think that it has made us all better individual players.”
Sophomore guard Lundon Williams played all 40 minutes in Haney’s absence and scored 13 points. The Lady Bisons are now ranked 15-9. Going into the final two games, head coach Tim Kirby said the team has to put the two losses behind them.
