[January 24, 2008]

Contact: Houston Taylor

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas stayed in step with the top-ranked Division II team in the country for awhile, but Delta State found its groove in the second half to hang on for a 74-59 win Thursday at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.

The Lady Muleriders, who trailed just 30-25 at the half, found themselves down only 36-33, with 16:55 left in the game. But the Lady Statesmen, who hadn’t been able to shake SAU to that point, suddenly were up 47-33 with 13:53 remaining when Bug Cooper’s lay-up ended an 11-0 run. Southern Arkansas whittled it back to 49-42 on one of two free throws from Goldie White at 10:14, but DSU quickly had it back to double-digits before eventually claiming an 18-point advantage at 67-49 with 4:12 left. The Lady Muleriders never got closer than 16 points the rest of the way until Shanaye Davis’ jumper with 34 ticks left provided the final margin.

A 10-2 spree gave Delta State a jump at the start before SAU closed it to 10-4 on White’s jumper at 14:36. After the Lady Statesmen held an 18-8 advantage at 10:56, Southern Arkansas used an 8-0 run to pull within two, 18-16 at 8:29 on Davis’ two freebies. Down just 28-25 with 1:50 remaining, Kayla Jones’ jumper missed and the Lady Muleriders turned it over twice, while DSU got its only shot to fall for the five-point lead at the break.

SAU held their visitors to 43.8 percent (14-32) shooting in the first half, but they heated up in the second frame by knocking down 17 of 24 for 70.8 percent. Delta State finished 31 of 56 (55.4) for the game, including 6 of 13 (46.2) three-pointers, and were 6 of 10 at the free throw line.

Southern Arkansas was 20 of 50 (40.0) from the field, 3 of 12 (25.0) from downtown, and 16 of 21 (76.2) from the line.

The Lady Statesmen held a 36-24 rebound advantage and used that to outscore the Lady Muleriders inside, 40-18. SAU had 17 turnovers, while forcing 21.

Lakira Boyd paced DSU with 19 points, Lamaesha McAdory contributed 13, and Moe Bell finished with 12. Brittani Calhoun shared game-high honors with eight rebounds, and Jennifer Rushing dished out nine assists.

Davis had a game-high 20 points and eight boards in the losing effort for Southern Arkansas. White added 15 points, and Blair Jordan chipped in 11.

After being ranked second for the past several weeks, Delta State moved up to the top spot in this week’s USA Today/ESPN Division II Coaches’ Poll after then top-ranked North Dakota suffered its first loss of the year. The Lady Statesmen are now 16-0 and 4-0 in Gulf South Conference play. The Lady Muleriders fall to 4-12 and are still winless in GSC action at 0-4.

SAU returns to action Saturday when they travel to Arkadelphia for a 3 p.m. tip-off against Ouachita Baptist.