Box Score

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Senior guard Stevi Cooper played her final regular season game inside the confines of the W.T. Watson Center on Saturday afternoon, and it will be a day to remember for the Reno, Nev. native as the Southern Arkansas women's basketball team defeated Henderson State by a score of 62-54.
 
Saturday's game was an absolute battle of wills as both teams fought valiantly back-and-forth to end their regular season with a win. Play was so close throughout the contest that there were 13 tie scores and 10 lead changes in total. Additionally, the largest lead for either team was eight points, and that was not attained until the waning seconds of the game.
 
Six of the 10 total lead changes came in the first half and the last two of those came in the final minute of the opening period when the Lady Muleriders (12-14, 8-12 GAC) and the Lady Reddies (13-13, 8-12 GAC) traded three-pointers. SAU would benefit from nailing the last three-pointer as it gave them a two-point halftime lead, 35-33.
 
Cooper, the lone senior on the Lady Mulerider team this year, was responsible for the halftime lead as she stole the ball away with about two seconds left and then launched a half-court shot that beat the buzzer.
 
The second half remained razor-thin close until 1:13 left in the game. It was there that the Lady Muleriders broke a 52-all tie and went on a quick 6-0 run to gain a six-point advantage, 58-52, with 19 seconds left. That game-changing run started on a jumper by Barvion Wyatt at the 1:13 mark. A turnover by HSU's Taylor Washington on the ensuing possession led to a layup by Aarika Reyna on the other end of the court with 28 seconds to go. Washington would turn the ball over again, this time with 19 seconds left, and it led to a pair of made free throws by Cooper, making it a 58-52 Lady Mulerider lead.
 
The Lady Reddies would answer back with a pair of free throws of their own to make it a four-point game with 14 seconds left, but the Lady Muleriders would ice the game as they made their final four free throws to secure the eight-point win.
 
With the win, the Lady Muleriders (12-14, 8-12 GAC) will now enter the Great American Conference for the first time in program history, and they will do so as the No. 7-seed. Their opening-round opponent will be the No. 2-seed East Central Lady Tigers. That game is scheduled for a 2:15 p.m. tip-off on Friday, March 7 at the Bruin Fieldhouse in Bartlesville, Okla.