SWOSU Athletics
Doug Self, Sports Information Director
WEATHERFORD – The decorated career of SWOSU guard Hailey Tucker reached a new milestone on Thursday night as the senior scored a season-high 30 points to lead her Lady Bulldogs past Arkansas Tech by a score of 94-63.
During the game, Tucker scored the 2,000th point of her career, becoming the second active player in NCAA Division II to reach that milestone. She is also just the second player in the illustrious history of SWOSU Women’s Basketball to score more than 2,000 points, joining Lady Bulldog legend Kelli Litsch, who was on hand to present Tucker with the game ball following Thursday night’s victory.
With the victory, SWOSU has established a new school record for consecutive victories in the NCAA Division II era – which dates back to 1997 – with 16 straight wins to their credit since a season-opening defeat to Emporia State. The Lady Dawgs are now 16-1 on the year and 11-0 in Great American Conference action, three games ahead of their closest competition in the standings.
While the final score may indicate a lopsided contest, SWOSU actually trailed Arkansas Tech 18-14 at the end of the first quarter after connecting on just 5-of-16 field goal attempts in the frame. The Lady Dawgs would close the first half on a 6-2 run with back-to-back three pointers from Tucker as they opened up a slight edge of 42-38 at the break.
SWOSU outscored ATU 26-15 in the third quarter to extend the lead before blowing the game open in the fourth quarter by limiting Tech to 10 points while adding 26 more to the board. Tucker got her 2,000th career point at the 8:00 mark of the fourth quarter with an inbounds play designed to get her a look from three-point range. A double screen from Bethany Franks and Taylor Hedrick got Tucker separation and Hayden Priddy delivered a perfect pass, allowing Tucker to do what she’s done more than any other Lady Bulldog has – knock down a three.
Tucker went on to score seven more points in the fourth quarter, bringing her running total to 2,007 points with 11 games remaining in the regular season. She finished the game 9-for-22 from the field, 5-for-12 from downtown and 7-for-7 from the free throw line to total a season-best 30 points, which is four points off her career high. Tucker was also credited with seven rebounds, five assists, one blocked shot and one steal in 33 minutes.
As she has often done in her stellar four-year career, Hayden Priddy provided SWOSU with another excellent scoring option on Thursday night. The senior from Piedmont also set a new season-high with 26 points, hitting 7-of-13 three-point attempts while also grabbing six rebounds and adding six assists to her school-record total, which now sits at 435.
With Tucker and Priddy combining for 56 points on the night, only one other Lady Bulldog reached double figures in scoring as Dovile Strimaitye came off the bench to hit 4-of-5 field goal attempts and two free throws, which was good for 10 points. Tyra Aska had an off night shooting, but still managed nine points and filled out the stat sheet with six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Bethany Franks pulled down another 11 rebounds to up her average to 9.4 per game for the season.
Fans of the No. 16/14-ranked Lady Bulldogs will not have to wait long to see their team back in action as SWOSU hosts Harding on Saturday, with tipoff set for 11:00 am at the Pioneer Cellular Event Center in Weatherford.