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Southern Arkansas LADY MULERIDERS (9-9, 5-7 GAC) |
vs. Norhtwestern Oklahoma RANGER (5-12, 5-6 GAC)
Saturday, February 1 @ 2 p.m
Alva, Okla. (Perceful Fieldhouse)
Live Audio (SAU Feed) | Live Stats | Live Video (NWOSU Feed) |
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GAME NOTES ( PDF)
Setting the Stage
The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team is looking for a season-sweep of Northwestern Oklahoma as they travel to Alva, Okla. on Saturday. When the two teams first met in late November, the Lady Muleriders had just broken a 35-game losing streak while the Rangers were still in search of their first win of the season. This time around, the Rangers are one of the hottest teams in the GAC as they have won five of their last six games. On the other end of the court, the Lady Muleriders are coming off of a 71-86 loss to Southwestern Oklahoma.
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.
Northwestern Oklahoma is coached by Eric Bozeman. Now in his second season, Bozeman has continued to lead the Rangers in their transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II. Last year in his first season, Bozeman's Rangers were 6-20 overall and 5-15 in the GAC. A head coach for 12 years prior to coming to Northwestern Oklahoma, Bozeman has amassed a 144-183 overall record.
Last Time Out
The Lady Muleriders are coming off of a 71-86 loss on the road against Southwestern Oklahoma on Thursday afternoon. In that game, the Lady Muleriders employed a strong second-half comeback effort, but the Lady Bulldogs would stave that off to secure the win and season-sweep over the Lady Muleriders. The leading scorer for the Lady Muleriders was Chanel Miller as she scored 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting. Behind Miller in scoring was Aarika Reyna with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. The leading rebounder was Mariam Ridgwell with eight boards. Stevi Copper led the team in assists with four.
Last Time vs. Northwestern Oklahoma (November 21, 2013)
The Lady Muleriders and Rangers were each other's first GAC game of the season back in late November in Magnolia. Coming into that game, the Lady Muleriders had snapped a 35-game losing streak as they picked up their first win of the season against Rogers State a week earlier. At the conclusion of the game, the Lady Muleriders were victorious by a score of 74-59, giving them their first GAC win since late January 2012.
Checking the Standings
Southern Arkansas enters Saturday's action with a 5-7 record in the GAC and is currently in eighth-place, but stands to be the No. 6 seed in the tournament should the season end today.
Northwestern Oklahoma enters play tonight with a 5-6 mark in the GAC and is 7th-place in the conference standings. The Rangers, however, are not eligible for the GAC Tournament, but are eligible for a regular season championship. Therefore, their conference standing will not count towards tournament seeding.
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 nine home games. Evidence of the players buying in is in the fact that 12 players average 9.4 or more minutes of playing time a game. Additionally, the Lady Muleriders have won more games (9) 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 404 turnovers. 213 (53%) of those forced turnovers have been a result of a steal by the Lady Muleriders. Those 213 steals are tops in the GAC.
Give Me A Break
Seven times this season, the Lady Muleriders have held a lead heading into halftime. In those games, the
Lady Muleriders are 6-1. In games in which they either trail or are tied at the half, the Lady Muleriders are 3-8.
Chanel No. 3
Despite only starting seven games, junior forward Chanel Miller has been the Lady Muleriders' top scorer over the first 18 games this season as she averages 16.0 ppg. In all but three games, Miller has scored in double-figures and has scored 18 or more points nine times. Against Henderson State (1/21/14), Miller scored a career-high 34 points.
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 69.6 points per game, and those points are coming from a variety of sources as seven players are averaging 5.0 or more points a 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.
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 12 players average over 9.0 minutes a game and six average 20 minutes per game.
Crashing the Boards
Through 18 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 (42.2) and rank first in offensive rebounds per game (16.5). Helping lead the charge in rebounding is Miranda Grier, Chanel Miller, Mariam Ridgwell, and Barvion Wyatt. Those four average 4.4 or more rebounds per game and collectively, they are responsible for 19.9 (47%) of the team's 42.2 rebounds per game.
Quick Hands
With a GAC-leading 11.8 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 nine players have at least 11 steals on the year. Leading the way individually is Allie Wade with 34 steals.
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.
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.
