Written by John Mark Adkison
Even though it was Valentine’s Day, the Lady Bisons showed no love to the Lady Muleriders of Southern Arkansas University.With a big hand from junior guard Sierra Rollins’ double-double prowess, the Lady Bisons came out victorious with a 63-46 score.Both teams were neck and neck in the first 10minutesofthefirsthalf,untilseniorforward Danielle Reiher got a rebound and made three layups within two minutes, and Rollins added four more points to the score in free throws. The first half ended with 24-19, with the Lady Bisons leading.In the second half, the Lady Bisons stepped up their game and came back to make 39 more points, 19 in the first 10 minutes in field goals (when a ball passes through the basket in regular game time). With nine minutes left to play, the Lady Bisons were beating the Lady Muleriders 45-25. The Lady Bisons were also able to keep their opponents from getting any closer than 17 points away in the rest of the half.”[Head] Coach [Tim] Kirby always gives great halftime speeches,” freshman guard Kristen Celsor said of their burst of energy in the second half. “We did not do so great at working the offense in the first half, so we made sure to improve on that in the second half. We just need to start out the way we finish our games by continually working on our shots.”Rollins earned her eighth double-double with this game, scoring 20 points and 10 rebounds, helping Harding outrebound Southern Arkansas 40-35, as well as making 4-of-4 free throws. Reiher scored 12 points and senior guard Bailey St. Clair achieved 10 points, helping Rollins and the other players ensure the victory.”A game is 40 minutes, and if you play 35 of it you’re going to get beat, so you’ve got to suck it up to and play when you get tired,”Kirby said.”We got into the flow, we built up great momentum at the start of the second half. We scored really well in the paint, and since more fouls are called in the paint than at the 3-point line, you’re not going to get any free throws if you’re only playing at the 3-point line … we did a good job of finishing the game.”With this victory,the Lady Bisons maintained their fourth-place spot in the Great South Conference West Division. If they keep this spot, they will be eligible for the conference tournament in March.The Lady Bisons were decked out in bright pink home uniforms to raise awareness for breast cancer. Kirby said the uniforms were donated by Chili’s Bar and Grill. Spectators were able to purchase pink shirts for a “Pink-Out” game to donate money for breast cancer research.”The amount of money that we raise isn’t going to put a dent into what needs to happen with cancer fundraising, but every little bit does help, and this is more for raising awareness,” Kirby said.The men’s basketball team also defeated Southern Arkansas, with senior guard Stephen Blake scoring a career-high 34 points. As of Tuesday, Feb. 22, the Bisons are ranked in 14th place nationally in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches/Division II Coaches Poll and are at No. 7 in the NCAA II South Region Rankings.
