Henderson State women claim GAC title

The Lady Reddies won their first-ever Great American Conference Tournament title Sunday with a 71-55 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma State at FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Okla., behind 24 points from Green Forest native Ashley Farrar.

Farrar went 5 of 11 from the field, including 3 of 6 from three-point range, and 11 of 12 from the free-throw line. She also pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out 4 assists while committing just 1 turnover in 38 minutes. Brynlee Huggins scored 11 points and Olivia Allen chipped in 10 off the bench.

Henderson State didn’t dominate on offense, going 24 of 58 (41.4%) from the field and 9 of 21 (42.9%) on threes, but its defense held Southwestern Oklahoma State to 20 of 63 (31.7%) shooting from the field and a 1 of 16 (6.3%) effort from three-point range.

The Lady Bulldogs kept the score respectable by forcing 17 turnovers, including 12 steals, compared to the three they committed. Averi Zinn led Southwestern Oklahoma State with 16 points, 6 steals, 3 assists and 2 rebounds. Hailey Grant chipped in 11 points, but no other Lady Bulldog scored more than eight and Rees Berkey (1 of 1) was their only player to shoot 40% or better from the field.

Henderson State will play at Southern Nazarene, which it beat 81-77 on Saturday to advance to the GAC title game, in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament at 4 p.m. Central on Friday in Bethany, Okla. Harding also earned a spot in the tournament and will play Pittsburg State at 6:30 p.m. Central on Friday in Bethany, Okla.