[November 17, 2007]

Contact: Houston Taylor

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Goldie White hit one of two free throws to give Southern Arkansas a 50-48 lead with 4:05 remaining, but 12th-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce scored seven unanswered points down the stretch to slip away with a 55-50 win Saturday at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.

It was Southern Arkansas’ first game of the season against a ranked opponent, and A&M-Commerce’s season-opener. The Lions were coming off a season where they advanced to last year’s NCAA Division II Elite Eight after winning both the Lone Star Conference and South Central Region tournaments.

Plagued with shooting problems all night, the Lady Muleriders (1-1) missed three free throws and field goals in the closing minutes as the Lions went on their spree. Following two missed freebies by White and a missed jumper from Kayla Jones, an old-fashioned three gave TAMUC a 51-50 edge when Dominee Evans sank a free throw following the foul on her lay-up at 2:22. After an SAU misfire on a trey, Melissa Bratton connected on one to push A&M-Commerce up 54-50 at 1:33. Another missed three from Southern Arkansas put it back in the Lions’ hands which brought the obligatory Lady Mulerider foul and Alycea Wallace knocked in one of two with 25 ticks left that stood as the final margin.

SAU led only twice the whole game, but it was tight throughout. TAMUC controlled the first half, jumping out to a 6-0 lead before extending that to a 12-3 margin, their largest of the game, at 14:15 on a lay-up from Bratton. Southern Arkansas crept back to within two, 16-14, on two White free throws with 4:28 left, but A&M-Commerce eventually pulled away for a 23-18 margin at the break.

The Lady Muleriders out-scored their visitors 12-6 to start the second frame for their first lead of the game on White’s trey at 13:15. That was short-lived as Bratton canned two freebies and the Lions didn’t relinquish the lead again until Jones’ lay-up knotted it at 46-46 with 6:14 left. One of two free throws and a lay-up from Shanaye Davis pushed SAU to a 49-46 lead at 4:49, but Bratton’s two freebies cut the margin to one before White’s free throw attempts at 4:05.

Southern Arkansas kicked itself at the free throw line where they hit just 16 of 28 (57.1 percent) and was only 15 of 48 (31.3) from the field. TAMUC was 11 of 16 (68.8) at the charity stripe, and after a cold first half shooting (9-26), knocked down 12 of 23 in the second stanza to finish 21 of 49 (42.9) for the game.

The Lady Muleriders got 20 points off 19 A&M-Commerce turnovers, but that was offset by being out-muscled inside where the Lions held a 32-20 edge in points.

Bratton finished with a team-high 17 points for TAMUC, including six of seven free throws. Evans added 13 points, and Nola Taylor chipped in 10. Katedria Mosley grabbed nine rebounds and had three blocked shots, and Evans pulled down eight boards.

SAU got a game-high 24 points and a team-high seven rebounds from White, who hit seven of 18 from the floor, including four of seven from beyond the arc, and six of eight freebies. Jones added 10 points for the only Southern Arkansas players in double-figure points. The Lady Muleriders are still looking for scoring from their bench, as it was the season’s third straight game, including the exhibition loss at Arkansas-Little Rock, in which only the starters have scored.

Southern Arkansas won’t see home again for awhile as the team starts a nine-game road trip Tuesday when they travel to Denton to face Texas Woman’s in a 6 p.m. tip-off. The Lady Muleriders won’t play again in Magnolia until after Christmas when they get a return trip from Texas Woman’s on December 28.