DENTON, Texas – The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team fell in its exhibition match by one point, 75-74, in overtime versus North Texas Thursday night at the Super Pit.
Box ScoreDown by 10 at 22-12 at 10:08 in the first half, SAU (0-0) went on a 9-0 run capped off by a 3-pointer from junior
Tierra Tucker. Tucker led SAU with seven points in the first half as the Lady Muleriders trailed by just one point at halftime.
At 59-53 in the second half in North Texas' (1-0) favor, the Lady Muleriders fought back into the game with a 6-0 run on a
Chanel Miller jumper and a layup apiece from Tucker and
Courtney Lindsey. Teams would trade two-point plays twice to tie the game at 63 before a Mean Green layup and Miller 3-pointer gave the edge to SAU at 66-65.
Teams then traded layups with less than a minute to go. Down by one with six seconds to go, North Texas' JohVo Darrington went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe to tie the game at 68, which is where the team's scores would amount to at the end of regulation.
With the game tied at 72 in overtime with 3:34 to go, the Mean Green scored three points on a free throw followed by a jumper before senior
Aarika Reyna converted on a layup to bring the Lady Muleriders within one with 2:11 left to play.
Unfortunately, there were a combined 11 missed shots in the final 2:11 to end the game at a stagnant 75-74 in the Mean Green's favor.
Junior
Shabr'an Richardson led the Lady Muleriders in scoring with 10 points, while Miller and Tucker added nine points of their own. Junior
Shunta Nevitt nearly converted on a double-double for SAU, scoring nine points, all of which came in the second half, and grabbing 10 boards. Senior
Barvion Wyatt was also a major contributor with six points, six rebounds and three steals.
The Lady Muleriders held the advantage over the Mean Green in the paint (48-42), in second-chance points (21-16) and in bench points (39-27) in their valiant effort.
The SAU women's basketball team officially starts its season on Nov. 14 in the Texann Tip-Off Classic against host Tarleton State with a 5 p.m. tip time
