[December 28, 2007]

Contact: Houston Taylor

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas rallied from a 40-27 halftime deficit to tie the game with about three minutes left, but fell short on their comeback attempt in a 71-66 loss to Texas Woman’s Friday at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.

It was the fourth straight loss for the Lady Muleriders in their first home game in 41 days. SAU hadn’t played at home since a 55-50 setback to 12th-ranked Texas A&M-Commerce on November 17.

The Pioneers held a 44-31 advantage at 17:19 in the second frame before Southern Arkansas made its big run behind junior guard Shanaye Davis. The Lady Muleriders used an 11-2 run, with Davis getting seven of those, to close the gap to 46-42 over a four and a half minute span. SAU kept chipping away and had it down to 54-52 with 9:23 remaining, and finally evened it at 63-63 on Goldie White’s two free throws with 2:57 left. Lay-ups from Jessica Durr and Brandi Crouch put TWU back up by four until White’s three-point bomb from the hash mark cut it to 67-66 with 31 ticks left. But Southern Arkansas had to resort to the foul game and Durr and Crouch were perfect on two attempts apiece as the Lady Muleriders never got off another shot.

It didn’t look at all like SAU would even get close, at least in the second part of the first half. The teams traded baskets and nine lead changes, with neither leading by more than two points until Savannah Thompson’s jumper put Texas Woman’s up 17-13 at 11:47. That came in the midst of an 18-5 Pioneer spree for a 29-18 lead with 8:16 remaining. TWU held a 16-point margin (38-22) with 3:30 left and cruised to the break.

Thompson and Durr combined for 44 points and 14 rebounds in leading the visitors. Each played 38 minutes with Thompson finishing with 23 points and nine boards, while Durr added 21 and five. Renee Renz, a transfer out of Arkansas-Little Rock chipped in 11 points, and Crouch did an outstanding job running the show in dishing out 11 assists.

White topped Southern Arkansas with 20 points, Kayla Jones posted her first double-double of the season, and second of her career, with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Davis finished with 14 points.

A 10 for 28 shooting (35.7 percent) performance doomed the Lady Muleriders in the first half before they knocked down 15 of 31 (48.4) in their second half comeback to finish 25 of 59 (42.4) for the game. White’s long trey was the team’s only in nine attempts and they hit 15 of 20 (75.0) from the line.

Texas Woman’s was 28 of 59 (47.5) from the field, three of 13 (23.1) from beyond the arc, and 12 of 18 (66.7) at the charity stripe.

The teams were dead even with 36 rebounds each, and SAU had 14 turnovers while forcing 16.

Southern Arkansas played nine straight games on the road over a 29-day stretch during their time away from home, going 3-6. Friday’s action was the Lady Muleriders’ first since dropping two games in the Henderson State Classic in Arkadelphia December 17-18. SAU gets another long break and won’t see the court again until starting Gulf South Conference play January 12 against Christian Brothers in a 3 p.m. tip-off in Memphis.