MONTICELLO, Ark. – The University of Arkansas at Monticello women's basketball team clinched a Great American Conference Tournament berth with a 62-44 victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Saturday from the Steelman Field House in Monticello, Arkansas.
Berniezha Tidwell had a big game on Senior Day narrowly missing a triple-double tallying 28 points, 12 rebounds and nine steals.
After the win, UAM honored the careers of seniors
Lynah Bontiff,
Pamela Bethel and Tidwell for their tremendous basketball careers.
UAM got control in the second half thanks to some full-court pressure and never looked back. The Blossom defense forced 24 total turnovers from Southeastern.
Three-point shooting was solid early for the Savage Storm, but the Blossoms were able to limit that toward the end of the first half. UAM took a lead into the second quarter, 17-14.
Toward the end of the half, it was clear the momentum was on UAM's side as they went up 10 points thanks to some solid shooting by Tidwell,
Dezirae King and
Jaida Muhammad. Just before the break, SEOSU hit a three, but the Blossoms took a 35-28 lead into halftime.
UAM and SEOSU kept battling throughout the third, until Tidwell hit a buzzer-beater to take us into the fourth quarter getting Steelman rocking. The shot also gave the Blossoms a 44-36 lead and they started their fourth-quarter push.
Right out of the gate, Muhammad pulled up from deep and hit to get the lead to double-digits. In the next few minutes, UAM continued to shoot well and get some trips to the free-throw line, increasing their lead all the way to 20 with 3:37 left in the game. Down the stretch, they maintained that lead. SEOSU did hit a three before the end of the contest, but UAM still went on to win, 62-44.
With the win, the Blossoms improve to 17-9 overall and 12-8 in GAC play while SEOSU falls to 17-7 overall and 14-6 in league games. UAM makes the GAC Tournament for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
UP NEXT
UAM will hit the road for their final two games of the regular season traveling first to Oklahoma Baptist University on Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
