SAU Holds off Newman, 56-52

By: Houston Taylor

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Junior guard Goldie White’s old-fashioned three-point play broke a 49-49 deadlock with 29 seconds left and Southern Arkansas hit five consecutive free throws down the stretch to pull out a 56-52 win over visiting Newman (Kan.) Thursday at the W.T. Watson Athletic Center.

The Lady Muleriders (5-6) let a 10-point advantage (47-37) with 8:36 remaining get away from them as the Lady Jets (2-8) rattled off a 12-2 run to knot it on Ashley Hanson’s only basket of the night, a lay-up at the 1:29 mark. SAU managed to regroup, as White hit a jumper, drew a foul on Diana Santillan, and hit the freebie for the three-point play and a 52-49 lead. Junior forward Shardae Thompson and White then knocked down four consecutive free throws in sealing the win. Hadley Freeman’s long-range bomb at the buzzer provided the final margin.

Southern Arkansas’ 10-point margin was their largest lead of the game after holding a 22-14 advantage with 5:33 left in the first half. But Newman overcame that too, evening it at 26-26 at 1:08 on another Freeman three-pointer. White drew a foul at the first half buzzer and connected on both free throws for a 28-26 Lady Mulerider lead at the break.

White led all players with 20 points, including hitting all nine of her free throws. She was 5 of 15 from the floor with one trey. White also shared game-high honors with Thompson in pulling down eight rebounds, dished out three assists, had four steals, and suffered just one turnover in 39 minutes of play.

Neither team shot well, with SAU connecting on 20 of 56 for 35.7 percent, and the Lady Jets hitting 20 of 51 (39.2). Southern Arkansas was 4 of 13 (30.8) on treys and 12 of 14 (85.7) at the free throw line, while Newman canned 7 of 14 from downtown and was perfect in five attempts at the line.

Playing in her first action of the season, junior center Crystal Kirk (6-2, Lonoke/Arkansas State) was the only other Lady Mulerider in double figure points, scoring 10. Freshman center Kmaria Hobbs, back in action after missing the previous two games due to her grandfather’s death, was held to just four points and two rebounds. Averaging 18.5 points and 8.6 rebounds coming into the game, it was her first without scoring in double digits.

The Lady Jets used a total of 14 players in the contest, getting a team-high 13 points from Rainey Nickel and seven rebounds from Edan Townley.

SAU held a 36-33 rebound advantage and forced 17 turnovers while committing 12.

With its fifth win of the year, Southern Arkansas has now equaled its season total from a year ago. They have a 10-day break over the Christmas holiday before participating in the West Florida Holiday Classic in Pensacola December 29-30 against West Florida and West Alabama.