The Lady Bisons basketball team dropped to No. 20 in the Dec. 2 USA Today Division II Top 25 Coach’s Poll after losing two games last weekend.
Ranked at No. 8 on Nov. 25, the Lady Bisons dropped to 4-2 after losing 76-70 to Cameron University and 67-65 to West Texas A&M University at the Pak-A-Sak Thanksgiving Classic.
The loss to Cameron was the team’s first loss of the season. Despite leading 44-40 at halftime, Cameron responded with an 11-point scoring streak at the beginning of the second half that propelled them into the lead for most of the game. The Lady Bisons have averaged 10 3-pointers per game so far this season, but Cameron held them to only five.
Sophomore guard A’ndrea Haney said they were surprised at how Cameron bounced back from their loss to the Lady Bisons on Nov. 15.
“Our game plan beforehand was to take it inside, so that may have deterred us a bit,” Haney said. “We have great 3-point shooters. But we didn’t want to live and die by the 3 pointer, so we tried to switch up our game plan and take it inside, which may have thrown us off a bit in the end.”
Senior forward Arielle Saunders led the team against Cameron with 24 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
“I knew if I could penetrate the gap and score inside, that would open things up for everybody else,” Saunders said.
In the loss to West Texas A&M, senior forward Montana Lewis led the Harding team with 15 points and 11 rebounds. A chance came to tie the game in the final seconds, but the Lady Bisons could not manage a final layup.
“We’re still a relatively young team,” Saunders said. “We just want to get back on track now and win a conference game. We’re always especially motivated to win conference games.”
The next game after publication for the Lady Bisons is on Dec. 6 against the University of Arkansas-Monticello in Monticello, Ark., at 2 p.m.
The Ladies do not play at home in the Rhodes Field House until Dec. 13 against Henderson State University.
