BETHANY, Okla. - The No. 1 seeded Crimson Storm met Great American Conference foe the No. 4 seeded Harding Bisons in the semifinals of the Central Region Tournament. In a back and forth contest down to the wire the Storm was able to pull off the win and claim the 68-65 victory to advance to the Central Region Championship.

The Crimson Storm (30-2, 21-1 GAC) defeated the Bisons for their 30th win of the season, becoming just the third team in GAC history to achieve 30 wins in a season. This win was long overdue after the Bisons (26-6, 19-3 GAC) handed the Storm their first loss of the season in Searcy. 

The Bisons got on the board first but Hannah Giddey responded dropping one in from the paint. It quickly became a battle of the posts as Giddey and Sage Hawley went back and forth. A trip to the free throw line and a jumper in the paint allowed Harding to pull away to an 11-8 lead with just under five minutes left in the first quarter. 

Lauryn Reither and Georgia Adams teamed up for the next five points to put the Storm back in front. A good free throw from Giddey stretched that lead once again, but the Bisons got the final shots at the line to trail 14-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Harding took over to begin the second quarter as they went on an 8-0 run. Giddey halted their momentum, dropping in another jumper from the paint. Free throws from Giddey and Reither put the Storm back within one but the Bisons continued to have a response for every SNU bucket. 

Reither found an open Adams who drained a three ball to tie the score at 25 and get the Sawyer Center on their feet with 2:35 left to play in the half. The Bisons tacked on a few more points to hold their 35-27 lead at the half.

The Storm got the first shot of the second half as Reither dropped in a jumper from the paint. The two squads continued to swap points from there. Another long ball from Reither and a good jumper from Giddey allowed SNU to jump in front 38-36. 

The Bisons continued to respond, but Reither hit another three to keep the Storm in control. A few more shots in the paint and made free throws from Abbie Jiles allowed the Storm to maintain a 49-47 lead going into the final quarter.

The two squads continued to trade points but the Storm continued to hold their lead. A three from Emily Monaghan allowed SNU to jump to a five-point lead with just under five and a half minutes left to play. A trip to the charity stripe and jumper allowed the Bisons to cut the deficit to two. 

A free throw from Jiles and a layup from Giddey pushed the Storm lead back to three with 1:48 left on the clock. A jumper from Harding cut the SNU lead to just one but Reither knocked down one free throw to push the Storm back ahead by two with 24 seconds left to play.

Sage Hawley went to the line for Harding as she banked in a free throw to cut the deficit once again 64-63. Jiles was then sent to the foul line once again, as she knocked down both shots to push the SNU lead to three. 

The Storm then fouled with seven seconds left to send Josie Williams to the line who hit both shots to put the Bisons within one. Harding then sent Monaghan to the line who drained both of her shots to claim the 68-65 lead over the Bisons.

Giddey was outstanding in the paint for Southern Nazarene as she dropped 29 points alongside her six boards. Reither also played a huge role in the Storm offense as she posted 14 points. Adams also saw double digit scoring as she collected 10 points on the evening.

Next Up

The Storm will now take on the No. 7 seeded Minnesota State Mavericks in the Central Region Championship. The two will face off Monday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m. inside the Sawyer Center Center. These two squads met earlier this season as the Storm took down the Mavericks 73-56.