Lampo goes for 39/12 against Henderson
SEARCY — Harding sophomore Kellie Lampo scored a career-high 39 points and grabbed
12 points Saturday as the Lady Bisons took sole possession of second place in the Great American Conference with a 72-58 victory over Henderson State at the Rhodes-Reaves Field House.
The win was Harding’s sixth straight and boosted the Lady Bisons to 18-6 overall and 13-5 in the GAC. Henderson State entered with the same conference record and fell to 17-7 overall and 12-6 in conference. The Reddies sit tied with East Central (17-7, 12-6) and Southern Nazarene
(13-11, 12-6) for third place.
Lampo, of Jessieville, made 16 of 25, 64 percent, field goal attempts and 7 of 11, 63.6 percent, free throws. Her point total was the most since Mindy Napier scored 39 at Lyon in 2000, and one off the school record of Angie Dugger, who scored 40 against Cameron in 1997.
Harding shot 47 percent or better in each quarter and never trailed, shooting 56 percent for the game. The Lady Bisons made their last eight shots and shot 69 percent in the fourth quarter to maintain their lead. Harding’s 87 points matched a season high and were the most in a GAC game this season.
The Reddies trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half but got a 3-pointer from Mains Mains and a bucket from Lexis Weber to close the second quarter on a 5-0 run and cut the deficit to 38-28 at the break.
Henderson continued to trim the lead in the third quarter and outscored Harding, 23-21, in the quarter to bring it within 58-51 entering the fourth. Lampo scored 19 points in the final quarter to help hold off the Reddies.
Harding had a 48-35 rebound advantage and held Henderson State to only 29 percent shooting. Cheyenne Brown added 19 points for Harding and Kennedy Cooper had 12 as the post players for the Lady Bisons scored 70 of the team’s
87 points.
Pink Jones finished with 22 points and was 10 of 11 from the free throw line to lead the Reddies, who were just 9-for-38, 23.7 percent, on 3-pointers. Blue Jones had 13 points and Hailey Estes added 10 points and seven rebounds.
Henderson has two road games this week. The Reddies will face GAC leader Southwestern Oklahoma State (23-1, 18-0) on Thursday in Weatherford, Okla., and Northwestern Oklahoma State (10-15, 7-11) on Saturday in Alva, Okla.
The Lady Bisons also have a road trip through Oklahoma this week. Harding will go to Betha-
ny, Okla., on Thursday to face Southern Nazarene before meeting Oklahoma Baptist (1014, 6-12) on Saturday in Shawnee, Okla.
Men
Four different Reddies in double figures allowed Henderson to pull away with a 22-3 run early in the second half Saturday for a 73-56 win at Harding.
Joshua Jones finished with a season-high 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting for Henderson (16-8,
11-7), while Rel Johnson had 12, Chris Parker had 11 and Anthony Lupardus chipped in 10 off of the bench.
The win was Henderson’s
11th GAC victory of the season, which ties the program high for a single year.
Harding (5-19, 3-5) opened the game on a 6-0 run on its home floor but a quick 17-4 response from the Reddies helped them go back in front and control the first half the rest of the way and carry a 38-29 advantage into the halftime break.
Henderson outscored the Bisons, 22-3, in the first eight minutes of the second half. The run featured an 18-0 stretch with five points each from Jones, Lupardus and Owens for a 60-32 lead with 11:20 left to play.
Harding put together its own 20-5 run to trim the deficit to 65-52 at the 6:37 mark. Henderson got 3-pointers from Jones and Parker down the stretch to keep the Bisons at bay and cruise to the road victory.
Colin Hale led Harding with
12 points.
The Reddies were 10-for-21,
47.6 percent, from behind the 3-point line. They outscored the Bisons, 29-9, in points off turnovers.
Henderson’s next game will be on the road Thursday in Weatherford, Okla., against Southwestern (4-20, 1-17). The Reddies will close the week in Shawnee, Okla., at Oklahoma Baptist (13-11, 12-6).