SOUTHERN ARKANSAS LADY MULERIDERS (5-13, 3-9 GAC)

#16 HARDING LADY BISONS (15-3, 11-1 GAC)

Saturday, January 31 | 5:30 P.M. Rhodes Field House | Searcy, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO HU Feed | LIVE AUDIO SAU Feed SAU GAME NOTES | HU GAME NOTES

 

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SETTING THE STAGE
The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team looks to make it consecutive wins against nationallyranked top-25 opponents after the Lady Muleriders upset #20 Arkansas Tech 57-52 at home on Thursday. The win over Tech was the Lady Muleriders' first win over a top-25 team since the 2006-07 season when SAU knocked off then ranked #25 Henderson State on the road.
 

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SCOUTING HARDING
The Harding women's basketball team enters play with a 15-3 overall record and are 11-1 in the GAC. The Lady Bisons are coming off of their first loss in GAC play as they fell on the road at Henderson State by a score of 91-85

Statistically, the Lady Bisons are averaging 75.5 points per game and are shooting 45% (483-of-1,068) overall from the floor. Their scoring per game ranks second in the GAC while their shooting percentage also ranks second in the league. Currently two Lady Bisons are averaging double figures in scoring with Arielle Saunders leading the way at 16.7 ppg. Next in double figures is Montana Lewis at 11.5 ppg. As a team, the Lady Bisons rank first in the GAC in shooting from beyond the arc at 38% (130-of-346)
and rank seventh in the league at the free throw line at 71% (263-of-371).

Defensively, the Lady Bisons are allowing their opponents to score an average of 59.2 points per game while also allowing a 36% (374-of-1,048) success rate from the floor. Their opponents' points per game average ranks first in the GAC and their +16.3 scoring margin ranks second

In terms of rebounding, the Lady Bisons rank first in the GAC with 42.5 boards per game. On the other end of the court, the Lady Bisons are allowing 32.7 boards per game and their +9.8 rebounding margin ranks first in the GAC.

As far as steals and assists, the Lady Bisons rank fifth and first in the respective categories. On the year, HU is averaging 7.7 steals per game while averaging 16.0 assists.

COACH
The Lady Bisons are coached by Tim Kirby who is in his 10th season at Harding. In his time at Harding, Kirby has amassed a 185-93 record. 

LAST YEAR/LAST TIME OUT
This is the second time this year that the Lady Muleriders and Lady Bisons will meet. In their first meeting, Harding beat SAU 74-53. The leading scorer in that game for SAU was Tierra Tucker with 14 points.

THE SERIES
This is the 32nd meeting since the 1999-00 season between Southern Arkansas and Harding. During this recent stretch, HU holds a commanding 27-4 lead. When the game is played in Searcy, the Lady Bisons hold a 14-1 advantage and have won their last 10 at home vs. SAU.

ON TAP
The Lady Muleriders will take their second Oklahoma swing of the year next week as the travel to Durant on Thursday to take on Southeastern Oklahoma and then travel to Bethany on Saturday to take on Southern Nazarene.
 

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SAU NOTES
Rainbolt Era: Year Two
Southern Arkansas head women's basketball coach Rusty Rainbolt is now in his second season and in his short time, Rainbolt has taken major strides towards building the Lady Muleriders into a top-tier team within the Great American Conference. Last year, in his first season, Rainbolt won 12 games and led the Lady Muleriders to their first conference tournament game since 2006-07. Those 12 wins surpassed the win total for the program over the past three years combined.

Stealing is a Good Thing
A continuing trend from last season is the fact that the Lady Muleriders are ranked in the upper echelon of the GAC and the NCAA in steals per game. Last season, the Lady Muleriders led the GAC and ranked 15th in DII in steals per game with 11.3. This season, the Lady Muleriders are first in the GAC and rank 33rd in DII in steals per game at 10.9

Cause and Effect: Turnovers
As fans grew to expect last season, head coach Rusty Rainbolt will employ a hard-nosed, full-court press defense for much of a given game. As a result of that up-tempo and aggresive style of defense, opponents have grown frustrated within their offenses and it has caused them to turn the ball over 362 times with 196 (54%) of those forced turnovers coming via the steal.

Bryant GAC Player of the Week
Southern Arkansas junior forward Rosa Bryant was named the GAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week-ending January 4, 2014. Bryant, a native of Bastrop, La., earned the weekly conference honor after a highly-efficient shooting performance against Henderson State. In that game, Bryant would go 10-of-11 from the floor (.909) on her way to scoring a team-high 21 points in the game. Her field goal% for that game was the highest in a game (min. 10 FG made) since the 2006-07season when Kim Davis went 11-of-13 vs. UAM.

Bryant Emerging as Scoring Threat
Junior newcomer Rosa Bryant has become one of SAU's top scoring threats this season as she is one of two Lady Muleriders currently averaging double figures in scoring (12.1 ppg). 10 times this season, Bryant has scored 10 or more points in a game and she has scored 20 or more in four times, including a season-high 24 against then #18 Arkansas Tech.

Equal-Opportunity Scoring
In 18 games played this season, SAU's bench has outscored its opponent's bench 12 times. In those games, the Lady Muleriders are 4-8. Additionally, the Lady Muleriders have grown to rely rather heavily on their bench scoring as currently 45% of their scoring is coming from their bench.

Chanel No. 3
Chanel Miller returns to the Lady Mulerider basketball team for her senior season after the Waxachachie, Texas turned in a sensational junior campaign at SAU in which she was honored as the GAC's Newcomer of the Year. Last season, Miller lead the team in scoring at 15.3 ppg and shot at a 44% clip overall from the floor (149-of-336), 22% from beyond the arc (4-of-18), and 76% from the free throw line (96-of-127).

This season, Miller is once again one of the team's top scorers as she is averaging 12.4 ppg. Additionally, Miller is among the most efficient overall scorers in the GAC
as she is shooting 49% overall from the floor (67-of-138), 38% from long range (12-of-32), and 89% from the charity stripe (40-of-45).

Right There
While the Lady Muleriders have lost 13 games to this point in the season, that is not to say that they haven't been in a position to win most of those games. Out of
the 13 losses, the margin of defeat has -been six points or fewer seven times.