It was a back-and-forth game for much of the first half, which ended with Harding leading PSU 46-44. The teams traded buckets for the first five minutes of the third quarter before the Gorillas went on a 14-0 run. The closest Harding got after that was within eight.
“Every team is great,” PSU Head Coach Amanda Davied said. “Every team is really good, and you’re going to get everybody’s highest level, so I’m really proud of our girls for answering that call.”
The Gorillas shot 62.3 percent overall -including 85.7 percent in the first quarter and 80 percent in the third- from the field, compared to the Bisons’ 38.2 percent. They also scored 62 points in the paint and had 23 from players who came off the bench. Senior Karenna Gerber finished with a game-high 29 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Macie Mays and senior Grace Pyle followed with 19 and 16 points, respectively.
“The MIAA is a tough conference,” Gerber said. “Going out every game, it's always competitive. So having that day in and day out, and then in practice, we have a pretty deep lineup so just keeping every single day competitive really helps with these types of games.”
Harding was led by senior Aubrey Isbell who had 19 points. Behind her was sophomore Josie Williams with 13 and seniors Sage Hawley and Rory Greer who each had 12. They finish their season 25-7.
PSU will play Minnesota State-Mankato in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on March 15 at John Lance Arena.
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