ADA, Okla. – Chanel Miller registered her first double-double of the season with season-highs of 27 points and 10 rebounds on Thursday night inside the Kerr Activities Center in Ada, Oklahoma, as the Southern Arkansas University Lady Mulerider basketball team pushed East Central to the brink of defeat, but was unable to close out the Great American Conference contest as they fell 69-64 in the first game of their Oklahoma road trip.
 
The Lady Muleriders (4-9, 2-5 GAC) trailed by 14 points at the break, but battled back to cut the deficit to two with 58 seconds to play. However, three late free throws iced the game for the Lady Tigers (10-2, 6-0 GAC) as they remain atop the GAC standings.
 
Tierra Tucker started the scoring for the Lady Muleriders with a layup 50 seconds into the first half signifying one of only two times the ballgame would be tied. Miller's night of scoring began at the 17:33 mark as the senior forward knocked down a jumper to cut the Lady Tiger lead to 3, 7-4.
 
Southern Arkansas kept it close throughout the first half of action as Aarika Reyna drilled back to back three-pointers to tie the game 14-all at the 12:58 mark.
 
Over the next seven minutes of play, Miller and Tucker combined for all of SAU's 11 points before Rosa Bryant was fouled on a layup attempt. The junior forward converted the old fashioned three-point play with the bucket and a free throw at the 6:05 mark of the opening half to pull the Lady Muleriders within six, 30-24.
 
A 17-9 run by ECU saw the Lady Tigers connect on six of eight free throws as they took a 47-33 lead into intermission.
 
Southern Arkansas wasted no time striking first after the break as Miller hit her only three-pointer of the night 15 seconds into the second half. Back-and-forth action ensued over the next eight minutes, but a Lady Tiger media timeout with 11:58 remaining marked the beginning of SAU's late run.
 
Taylor Fischer hit one of her five three-pointers of the night on the ensuing possession out of the timeout, but Reyna answered with a jumper on the other end to cut the deficit to 10, 58-48. Paint baskets from Miranda Grier and Reyna pulled the Lady Muleriders to within six with just under seven and a half minutes to play.
 
An ECU free throw pushed the lead to seven before Allie Wade scored inside to make it 59-54. Fischer knocked down another three before Miller answered back-to-back ECU possessions with two baskets of her own to keep the Lady Muleriders within striking distance. Reyna hit another jumper on the next trip down to bring SAU within four, 64-60.
 
The aforementioned ECU halftime lead would diminish to a one possession game as Reyna again connected on a jumper with just under a minute remaining.
 
However, the resilient comeback attempt would come up just short as the Lady Tigers finished off SAU at the foul line in route to their sixth GAC win. 
 
Miller's first double double of the year came on 11 of 17 shooting in a season high 38 minutes of action. Joining Miller with double digit scoring was Reyna who added 14 in 24 minutes off of the bench. Rosa Bryant recorded a season high 12 rebounds as Southern Arkansas outrebounded ECU by nine, 39-30. As a team, SAU outshot the Lady Tigers in all three aspects of the game, but fell victim to 17 turnovers and 10 blocked shots.
 
The Lady Muleriders will remain on the road as they travel west into Weatherford, Oklahoma, for a GAC clash with Southwestern Oklahoma St on Saturday, January 10^th. Tip-off for the contest is scheduled for 1 p.m.