Southern Arkansas LADY MULERIDERS (11-10, 7-8 GAC)

vs. Southern Nazarene CRIMSON STORM (9-11, 6-8 GAC) Thursday, February 13 @ 5:30 p.m Magnolia, Ark. (W.T. Watson Center) Live Audio (SAU Feed) | Live Stats | Live Video (SAU Feed)

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GAME NOTES (PDF)

Setting the Stage
The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team returns home after a lengthy four-game Oklahoma road swing. During that trip, the Lady Muleriders went 2-2 with wins against Northwestern Oklahoma and Southeastern Oklahoma. Their win against Southeastern was perhaps the most significant win of the season to date as it clinched the Lady Muleriders their first-ever berth into the GAC Women's Basketball Tournament.  
 
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 (11) than the previous three years combined.
 
Southern Nazarene's Derek Dorris is in his second year as the head coach of the Crimson Storm. Last season, Dorris led the Crimson Storm to a 21-10 overall record and a 14-6 mark in their first season in the GAC. Despite not being eligible for GAC or NCAA post season play last year, Dorris and the Crimson Storm went on to post season play as part of the NCCAA . That run would culminate in a NCCAA National Championship.      
 
Last Time Out
The Lady Muleriders are coming off of a 57-53 road win against Southeastern Oklahoma. In that game, the Lady Muleriders overcame an early deficit and led the rest of the way out as their defense kept the Savage Storm offense at bay. Two Lady Muleriders would score in double figures with Chanel Miller leading the way with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Behind Miller was Miranda Grier with 10 points. Grier also picked up her third double-double of the season as she pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
 
Last Time vs. Southern Nazarene (January 11, 2014)
The last time these two teams met one another was back on January 11 in Bethany. In that game, the Crimson Storm took advantage of a cold shooting start by the Lady Muleriders as SNU would lead from wire-to-wire. 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.
 
Checking the Standings
Southern Arkansas enters Thursday's action with a 7-8 record in the GAC and is currently in seventh-place in the GAC standings. Despite having four conference games left, the Lady Muleriders have already clinched their first-ever berth into the GAC Women's Basketball Tournament.
 
Southern Nazarene enters play Thursday with a 6-8 mark in the GAC and is seventh-place in the conference standings. The Crimson Storm 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 9.0 or more minutes of playing time a game. Additionally, the Lady Muleriders have won more games (11) 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
Throughout 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 463 turnovers. 240 (52%) of those forced turnovers have been a result of a steal by the Lady Muleriders. Those 240 steals are tops in the GAC.
 
Give Me A Break
Eight times this season, the Lady Muleriders have held a lead heading into halftime. In those games, the Lady Muleriders are 7-1. In games in which they either trail or are tied at the half, the Lady Muleriders are 4-9.
 
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 68.4 points per game, and those points are coming from a variety of sources as seven players are averaging 5.8 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 11 players average over 9.0 minutes a game and six average 20 minutes per game.
 
Chanel No. 3
Despite only starting eight games, junior forward Chanel Miller has been the Lady Muleriders' top scorer over the first 21 games this season as she averages 15.9 ppg. In all but three games, Miller has scored in double-figures and has scored 18 or more points 10 times. Against Henderson State (1/21/14), Miller scored a career-high 34 points.
 
Crashing the Boards
Through 21 games, the Lady Muleriders are showing the ability to pull down rebounds at a high clip.
On the year, SAU is 4th in the GAC in total rebounds per game (42.3) and rank first in offensive rebounds per game (16.1). 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 20.5 (48%) of the team's 42.2 rebounds per game.
 
Quick Hands
With a GAC-leading 11.4 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 40 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 26% 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 20% of their field goal attempts come from beyond the arc.