Box Score (HTML)

BARTLESVILLE, Oklahoma – University of Arkansas at Monticello junior women's basketball player Nelsha Peterson turned in her third 20-point performance of the season, but the Blossoms were held to their second lowest field goal percentage of the year on Saturday in a 59-46 loss to No. 1 seed Harding in the semifinals of the 2015 Great American Conference Championship Tournament.

The Blossoms (14-13) took an early lead over the GAC's regular season co-champion with a three-pointer from Peterson at the 16:40 mark to give UAM a 9-4 advantage. However, the Lady Bisons (22-6) quickly responded with a pair of three-pointers on their next two possessions to take a one-point lead at the 15:00 mark.

Four minutes later, the Blossoms began a scoring drought that lasted over seven minutes, allowing Harding to build a double-digit lead of 13 at the 5:06 mark.

The Lady Bisons maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the first half and all the way through the first 17 minutes of the second half. The Blossoms put together a 7-1 scoring run to trim the Lady Bison lead down to eight points with 2:24 remaining in regulation. That UAM run featured a pair of free throws from junior Jordan Goforth, a layup from Peterson and a three-pointer by junior Nikki Mullen.

Harding made six free throws down the stretch and the Blossoms went 0-for-7 from the field in the final two minutes following Mullen's trey.

Peterson finished the game with exactly 20 points, while also chipping in with seven rebounds. Mullen followed with 11 points and led UAM eight rebounds.

As a team, UAM shot 27.3 percent from the field (15-for-55), 15 percent on three-pointers (3-for-21) and 77 percent on foul shots (13-for-17).

Harding finished at 34 percent from the field (19-for-56). Sydney Layrock and Montana Lewis tied for the game-high in scoring with 17 points each. The Lady Bisons advance to the GAC tournament finals on Sunday against No. 2 seed Arkansas Tech.

The Blossoms wrap up 2014-15 with UAM's first winning season since 2008-09 and the 29th overall in the 42-year history of the program.