Southern Arkansas Muleriders (7-5, 3-3 GAC)
at #6 Harding LADY BISONS (15-0, 7-0 GAC) Thursday, January 16 @ 5:30 p.m Searcy, Ark. (Rhodes Field House) Live Audio (SAU Feed) | Live Stats | Live Video (HU Feed)	vs. Arkansas Tech GOLDEN SUNS (6-6, 2-4 GAC) Saturday, January 18 @ 2 p.m Magnolia, Ark. (W.T. Watson Center) Live Audio (SAU Feed) | Live Stats | Live Video (SAU Feed)

GAME NOTES (PDF)

Setting the Stage
The Lady Muleriders are set to take on a pair of perennial powerhouse programs in pivotal conference games over the week as they will travel to Searcy, Ark. to take on the Harding Lady Bisons on Thursday, January 16 and then return home to play host to Arkansas Tech on Saturday, January 18.
 
This will be the first meetings of the year for SAU against both teams. Last season, the Muleriders lost all four games combined against the Lady Bisons (0-2) and Golden Suns (0-2).
 
The Coaches
Southern Arkansas' first-year head coach Rusty Rainbolt continues to push the Lady Mulerider basketball program in a different direction as his 2013-14 squad has already won more games (7) than the previous three years combined. This will be Rainbolt's first games against Harding and Arkansas Tech.
 
Harding is coached by Tim Kirby. Now in his ninth season, Kirby has compiled a 141-81 overall record at Harding and has led the Lady Bisons to 17 or more wins in a season in each of the past seven years. Last year, Kirby and the Lady Bisons finished 19-9 and advanced to the semi-finals of the GAC Tournament.
 
Arkansas Tech is coached by Dave Wilbers. Now in his seventh season, Wilbers has amassed a 151-36 overall record at Tech. In his time at Tech, Wilbers has continued to maintain the tradition of Golden Sun basketball as four of his teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Last year, Wilbers helped guide the Golden Suns to the GAC Tournament championship.
 
Last Time Out
The Lady Muleriders are coming off of a 68-86 loss on the road to Southern Nazarene. In that game, the Lady Muleriders started off 1-for-16 shooting and that slow start proved to be too much to overcome as Southern Nazarene would never trail in the game.
 
Three players would end in double figures for the Lady Muleriders with Chanel Miller leading the way with 14 points off the bench. Barvion Wyatt, who scored a season-high 21 points in her last game, was next with 12 points. Miranda Grier rounded out double-figure scoring with an even 10 points.
 
As a team, the Lady Muleriders did force the Crimson Storm to commit 28 turnovers with 18 being forced by the steal. Wyatt led the way in that category with five steals. Allie Wade was next on the team with four steals.
 
Last Time vs. Harding (February 21, 2013)
The last time the Lady Muleriders faced Harding was on February 21, 2013 in Searcy. It was a game that was controlled from the outset by the Lady Bisons. Harding would take a 27-point halftime lead after they shot an impressive 63% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. The Lady Bisons would cool off a little, but they still were able to grow their lead and finish the game with a 55-point margin of victory.
 
Last Time vs. Arkansas Tech (February  24, 2013)
The last time Southern Arkansas took on Arkansas Tech, four players scored in double figures, but it was not enough to stop the top team in the GAC at that point as the Golden Suns maintained a big halftime lead and secured a 23-point victory.
 
Checking the Standings
Southern Arkansas enters this weekend's action tied for sixth-place in the GAC, but stands to be in a tie for the No. 5 seed in the tournament should the season end today.
 
Harding enters play this weekend with a 7-0 mark in the GAC and sits alone atop the conference standings.
 
Arkansas Tech enters play this weekend with a 2-4 record in the GAC and is currently in seventh-place, but stands to be the No. 6 seed in the tournament if the season were to end today.
 
Rainbolt Era Bringing Culture Change
Since his hire in April of 2013, first-year head coach Rusty Rainbolt has worked hard to change the culture surrounding the Southern Arkansas women's basketball team. In the few months since, Rainbolt's efforts are beginning to show early returns as fans and players alike are buying into his "family-first" atmosphere.
 
Evidence of that from a fan perspective is the fact that the average home attendance is up from a year ago through the first six home games.
 
Evidence of the players buying in is in the fact that 10 players average 10.3 or more minutes of playing time a game. Additionally, the Lady Muleriders have won more games (7) than the previous three seasons combined.
 
Gotta Start with One
Mired in a 35-game losing streak, the revamped 2013-14 Lady Muleriders wasted little time in snapping that lengthy streak as they won their home-opener over Rogers State by a score of 86-72. The win was the first for the program since January 26, 2012 and was the first for Rusty Rainbolt as the Lady Mulerider head coach.
 
Full-Court Pressure
Early on in the season, one thing that can be expected from the SAU women's basketball team is that they will play a lot of full-court pressure defense. That up-tempo style of defense has frustrated opposing offenses to commit 276 turnovers. 155 (56%) of those forced turnovers have been a result of a steal by the Lady Muleriders. Those 155 steals are tops in the GAC.
 
Give Me A Break
Five times this season, the Lady Muleriders have held a lead heading into halftime. In those games, the
Lady Muleriders are 4-1. In games in which they either trail or are tied at the half, the Lady Muleriders are 3-4.
 
Spreading the Wealth
Only one player is averaging double figures on the season, but that is not to say that the Lady Muleriders are not scoring. On the year, SAU is averaging 70.7 points per game, and those points are coming from a variety of sources as six players are averaging six or more points a game.
 
Logging the Minutes
So far this year, all 13 active players have started at least once game, but no player has started every game. This has led to a fairly even distribution of minutes among the players. Evidence of this is the fact that 10 players average over 10.0 minutes a game and six average over 20 minutes per game.
 
Wade Makes School History
On December 23, 2013, junior guard Allie Wade made school history as she became the first Lady Mulerider basketball player to be named Player of the Week in the Great American Conference. SAU has been a member of the GAC since the 2011-12 season.
 
Chanel No. 3
Despite only starting four games, junior forward Chanel Miller has been the Lady Muleriders' top scorer over the first 12 games this season as she averages 15.1 ppg. In all but two games, Miller has scored in double-figures and has scored 18 or more points six times.
 
Growing Up
Last year, the Southern Arkansas women's basketball team was one of the youngest teams in the GAC as they had 12 freshmen or sophomores, only two juniors and no seniors. This year, thanks to only three returners and 10 transfers, the Lady Muleriders' roster boasts 12 juniors, one senior, and no freshmen or sophomores.
 
Crashing the Boards
Through 11 games, the Lady Muleriders are showing the ability to pull down rebounds at a high clip.
On the year, SAU is 5th in the GAC in total rebounds per game (44.0) and rank first in offensive rebounds per game (18.1). Helping lead the charge in rebounding is Miranda Grier, Chanel Miller, Mariam Ridgwell, Allie Wade, and Barvion Wyatt. Those five average around four rebounds per game and collectively, they are responsible for 24.3 (55%) of the team's 44.0 rebounds per game.
 
Quick Hands
With a GAC-leading 12.9 steals per game on the season, the Lady Muleriders are showing that they are very active and have quick hands on the defensive end of the court. As with most stat categories, the steals come as a team effort as eight players have at least 10 steals on the year. Leading the way individually is Allie Wade with 28 steals.
 
Dialing Long Distance
Three-point shooting has not been a strong suit of the Lady Muleriders so far this season as they are connecting on just 25% of their tries from long range. While the percentage is low, the Lady Muleriders also do not shoot many three's as is. So far, only 21% of their field goal attempts come from beyond the arc.