Box Score BOLIVAR, Mo. – Southern Arkansas fell into a 10-0 hole and never recovered as Southwest Baptist rolled to a 75-51 win Tuesday at the Meyer Sports Center.
 
The Bearcats (2-1) led throughout, commanding a 34-point margin in the second half, and emptied their bench, with four players finishing in double-figure scoring.
 
Jacqui Zelenka led the way with 16 points, Brook Duncan and Tanis Spani scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, off the bench, and Morgan Lucy added 10 points.
 
Sophomore guard Katherine McBride (Lucas, Texas) paced the Lady Muleriders (0-3) with a game-high 20 points, and had seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.  Freshman center Tori Nichols (Houston, Miss.) finished with 12 points and six rebounds.
 
Southwest Baptist reached its 10-0 lead at 16:39 in the opening half before SAU cut it to 10-4 a couple minutes later.  But the Bearcats put it in double-digits for good at 23-12 at the 6:19 mark and rolled on to the comfortable win.  They were up 36-20 at the half, matching their largest first half margin.
 
Southern Arkansas was never closer than 13 points in the second frame as Southwest Baptist reached its largest lead of 34 points, the first of three, of 61-27 with 9:37 remaining.  They led by 10-plus points for 34 of the game's 40 minutes.
 
The young Lady Muleriders continue to struggle offensively, failing to reach 60 points thus far, with a high of 57 in their season-opener.
 
They shot just 31.1 percent on 19 of 61 against the Bearcats, including only 2 of 15 three-pointers.  They were 11 of 12 at the free throw line, but have had trouble making it to the foul stripe, while their opponents have feasted there.  Southwest Baptist had 24 freebies, connecting on 17.
 
The Bearcats finished 28 of 63 (44.4 percent) from the floor, but only 2 of 18 from beyond the arc.
 
SAU got beat on the boards by a 48-33 margin, with Southwest Baptist holding a 34-26 scoring advantage inside.  Ashlee Pitts pulled down nine rebounds for the Bearcats.
 
Southern Arkansas takes a break for the Thanksgiving holiday and won't resume play until November 29 when they open Great American Conference play in Alva, Okla., in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against Northwestern Oklahoma State.  The Rangers are coached by former Mulerider head coach Eric Bozeman and have lost their first three games of the season.  They play Friday and Saturday before facing the Lady Muleriders.