[February 21, 2008]

By: Houston Taylor

CLEVELAND, Miss. – Showing why they’re the top-ranked team in the nation, Delta State (23-0, 11-0 GSC) threw an old-fashioned whipping on Southern Arkansas (4-19, 0-11 GSC) in a 97-49 win Thursday at Sillers Coliseum. It was the most lop-sided loss for a Lady Mulerider team since an 87-45 defeat by Arkansas Tech in the 1998-99 season.

SAU scored the first five points of the game, but that was all she wrote, as the No. 1 Lady Statesmen corrected that situation and rolled to victory. DSU was up by 20 just seconds before settling for a 43-25 margin at the break.

It got no better in the second half as Southern Arkansas was never closer than a 14-point spread, 49-35, and that was early at 17:15. After Goldie White’s jumper pulled the Lady Muleriders to within 57-37 at 13:36, the wheels really fell off with Delta State rattling off 19 unanswered points in a six minute span. All of a sudden it was 76-37 with still 7:37 to go. SAU didn’t score but 12 points the rest of the way as the Lady Statesmen held a 49-point advantage before settling for the final margin.

DSU put up 27 more shots than Southern Arkansas and connected on 24 more, finishing 41 of 74 for 55.4 percent. The Lady Muleriders were 17 of 47 (36.2), including 5 of 17 (29.4) from downtown, while Delta State was 4 of 11 (36.4). The Lady Statesmen hit 11 of 17 (64.7) from the free throw line and SAU was 10 of 14 (71.4).

It was a massacre inside as DSU got 50 points in the lane, while Southern Arkansas scored just six points down low the whole game. Delta State also forced 22 Lady Mulerider turnovers and converted those into 33 points, and held a 42-24 rebound advantage.

Lamaesha McAdory led the Lady Statesmen with game-highs of 18 points and eight rebounds. Lakira Boyd had 16 points, Renita Jones added 13, and Kirsten McBride chipped in 10.

White finished with 15 points and four rebounds for SAU, and Laura Suggs added 10 points.

Southern Arkansas returns to Magnolia Saturday, hosting Ouachita Baptist in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off. The Lady Tigers barely squeaked by with a 67-62 win in Arkadelphia on January 26.