SOUTHERN ARKANSAS LADY MULERIDERS (7-16, 5-12 GAC)	NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA RANGERS (9-14, 8-9 GAC)
Thursday, February 19 | 5:30 P.M. Perceful Fieldhouse | Alva, Okla. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO (SAU Feed)

 

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GAME NOTES | SAU | NWOSU

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SETTING THE STAGE
The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team hits the road for their longest road trip of the season (to Alva, Okla.) and are looking to build upon their recent two-game winning streak as they won both of their home games last week. The two wins have kept the Lady Muleriders alive for a berth into the 2015 Great American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament at the beginning of March.
 

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SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
The Northwestern Oklahoma women's basketball team enters play with a 9-14 overall record and are 7-8 in the GAC. The Rangers have lost three of their last four games with their last win coming in overtime at home against Ouachita Baptist on February 7. Statistically, the Rangers are averaging 58.6 points per game and are shooting 40% (492-of-1,233) overall from the floor. Their scoring per game ranks 11th in the GAC while their shooting percentage ranks fifth in the league. Currently one Ranger is averaging
double figures in scoring with Jonae Issac leading the way at 10.0 ppg. Kalea King is next in scoring on the team at 9.5 ppg.

As a team, the Rangers rank ninth in the GAC in shooting from beyond the arc at 30% (108-of-359) and rank 10th in the league at the free throw line at 62% (255-of-409).

Defensively, the Rangers are allowing their opponents to score an average of 63.5 points per game while also allowing a 42% (481-of-1,149) success rate from the floor. Their opponents' points per game average ranks fifth in the GAC and their -4.9 scoring margin ranks ninth

In terms of rebounding, the Rangers rank 11th in the GAC with 30.8 boards per game. On the other end of the court, the Rangers are allowing 37.3 boards per game and their -6.5 rebounding margin ranks 11th in the GAC.

As far as steals and assists, the Rangers rank third and eighth in the respective categories. On the year, NWOSU is averaging 9.3 steals per game while averaging 12.2 assists.

COACH
The Rangers are coached by Eric Bozeman, who is in his third season at Northwestern Oklahoma. In his two previous years at NWOSU, Bozeman netted a 13-37 record as he leads the Rangers through their transitional period into NCAA DII. No stranger to the GAC and even more so, Southern Arkansas, Bozeman was previously the head men's basketball coach at SAU before landing in Alva after the 2011-12 season. While at SAU, Bozeman led the Muleriders to a record of 73-116 in seven seasons.

LAST YEAR/LAST TIME OUT
This is the second time this year that the Lady Muleriders and Rangers will meet. In the first meeting, Northwestern Oklahoma came into the W.T. Watson Center and picked up a 68-56 win over SAU. In that game, NWOSU had five players score in double figures while SAU had two score 10 or more. One of two in double figures for SAU was Miranda Grier as she scoed a season-high 12 points.

THE SERIES
This is the sixth meeting all-time between Southern Arkansas and Northwestern Oklahoma in a series that began in 2012-13 when NWOSU joined the Great American Conference. In the brief history of the series, NWOSU holds a slim 3-2 advantage after winning the most-recent contest.

ON TAP
The Lady Muleriders will have a full week to prepare for their final home game of the season as they are set to host rival Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday, February 26. Following the conclusion of the game, the Lady Muleriders will honor the eight seniors on this year's team.
 

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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 29th in DII in steals per game at 10.7

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 441 times with 245 (55%) 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 2006-07 season 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 (12.9 ppg). 15 times this season, Bryant hasscored 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 23 games played this season, SAU's bench has out-scored its opponent's bench 17 times. In those games, the Lady Muleriders are 7-10. 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 11.7 ppg. Additionally, Miller is among the most efficient overall scorers in the GAC as she is shooting 48% overall from the floor (84-of-177), 33% from long range (12-of-36), and 90% from the charity stripe (53-of-59).

Right There
While the Lady Muleriders have lost 16 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 16 losses, the margin of defeat has been six points or fewer eight times.