[November 21, 2006]

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas University was hoping to turn their season around Tuesday in their home-opener, but even that didn’t change their shooting woes as the Lady Muleriders dropped a 75-53 decision to Texas Woman’s University (2-1). The Pioneers’ Margaret Wimbish had a little to do with it also, scoring a game-high 28 points.

SAU shot a dismal five of 28 for only 17.9 percent to limp to a 30-16 halftime deficit. It improved only slightly in the second stanza, 12 of 36 for 33.3 percent, for a final percentage of 26.6 for the game on 17 of 64 shooting. The Pioneers, on the other hand, were 28 of 52 for 53.8 percent for the game, 11 of 25 for 44 percent in the first half and 17 of 27 for 63 percent in the second half.

TWU took an early 2-0 lead on two free throws by Jessica Durr, before Southern Arkansas would tie it up on a jumper by Brooke Grigsby at 19:29. The Lady Muleriders stretched their lead out to 5-2 on a free throw by Kayla Jones and held their last lead of the game at 7-6 on a Jones lay-up at 14:58. Texas Woman’s pulled out to a six-point advantage before SAU was able to get back to within two, 13-11, on a Goldie White jumper with 9:25 left. The Pioneers then used a 15-2 run to take their largest lead of the first half, 28-13, at 3:21, before coasting to the halftime lead.

TWU opened the second half with an old fashioned three on a jumper and free throw by Wimbish to extend their advantage to 33-16 at 18:20. Southern Arkansas then got a little fire in their belly, outscoring their visitors, 16-6, over the next 5:37 to trim their deficit to seven at 39-32 with 12:43 remaining. The Pioneers responded briefly, before Grigsby, with a three-pointer, had the Lady Muleriders within seven again, 44-37, at 11:43. Unfortunately, that was the last SAU surge, and it was all TWU after that. Wimbish went crazy, scoring the next 11 points for Texas Woman’s, sparking them to a 22-6 run and a 66-43 advantage, their widest margin of the night, with 6:26 remaining in the game. She finished with 13 points and three rebounds during that span. Southern Arkansas got no closer than 16 points after that, before settling for the final 75-53 margin.

Wimbish was 11 of 16 from the field, including one of four on threes, and hit all four freebies in racking up her 28 points. She also had a team-high nine rebounds, all in 27 minutes of play. Durr added 11 points, dished out five assists, and grabbed three steals.

Grigsby led the Lady Muleriders with 17 points, four assists, and five steals. She was five of 15 for the game, three of eight on treys, and hit all four free throws. Sister Beth Grigsby, and White scored nine points each. Jones pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, including five offensive boards, and Stefanie White added five steals.

The Pioneers hit four of nine from the arc for 44.4 percent, while SAU was seven of 33 for only 21.2 percent, including 0 for 15 in the first half. TWU finished 15 of 21 at the free throw line for 71.4 percent, and Southern Arkansas was 12 of 19 for 63.2 percent.

The Lady Muleriders were out-boarded, 47-34, and outscored off the bench, 22-6. SAU finished with 18 turnovers to Texas Woman’s 24.

Southern Arkansas, dropping to 0-3 on the year, will travel for Thanksgiving to Cleveland, Miss., to participate over the weekend in the Delta State University Margaret Wade Memorial Classic. The Lady Muleriders will face West Georgia on Friday at 6 p.m., and square off against Lemoyne-Owen (Tenn.) College on Saturday at 4 p.m.

#SAU#