ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Chanel Miller dropped a season-high 31 points, Rosa Bryant collected her fifth double-double of the year and Tierra Tucker added 20 points to lead the Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider basketball team past Henderson State, 89-83, on Saturday afternoon inside the Duke Wells Center to conclude regular season play.
 
With the win, Southern Arkansas (9-17, 7-13 GAC) clinches the eighth and final seed in the upcoming Great American Conference tournament to be played on March 5-8 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
 
SAU shot over 56% (18-of-32) from the field in the first half as Miller led all scorers with 16 points in 18 minutes of work. Allie Wade connected with a jumper at the 15:51 mark of the first half and after an HSU turnover Bryant added a jump shot basket of her own to give SAU a 10-9 lead after four and half minutes of play.
 
The basket by Wade sparked a 16-5 Lady Mulerider run that pushed their advantage to 24-14 with 10:37 remaining in the first half. But Henderson State would use the next four minutes and fifteen seconds to build a 13-2 run and take a 27-26 lead.
 
HSU's lead would only get as large as six during the final minutes of the first half as Miller scored consecutive baskets and Tucker added an inside bucket to tie the game at 40. Five points from Aungelique Sledge pushed the Lady Reddies to a three-point lead at the break, 45-42.
 
It was the scoring trio of Bryant, Miller and Tucker that led SAU in the final half as they accounted for 42 of the Lady Muleriders' 47 second-half points. A layup from Bryant tied the contest at 50 with 17:07 left and five minutes later the Lady Reddies tied the game at 54 courtesy of two baskets from Dunlincia Keener.
 
Sledge would give Henderson State their last lead of the game at the 7:43 mark with an inside bucket to make it 65-64. Miller answered moments later by cashing in on an old fashioned three-point play as the senior converted a paint bucket and a charity stripe freebie to push SAU in front 67-65; a lead they would not surrender.
 
With 41 seconds left, HSU sank two free throws to pull within a possession, 83-81, but four free throws from Miller and a pair from Tucker put the regular season finale on ice as Southern Arkansas finished the year winning four out of five games to make a return trip to Bartlesville.
 
The Lady Mulerider bench absolutely dominated throughout the afternoon, outscoring the Lady Reddies bench 54-9. Bryant's damage came in the second half as 16 of her 20 points and 10 of her 11 rebounds came in the final twenty minutes. Miller's 31 points on 11-of-18 shooting came in a team-high 38 minutes of action as the senior padded her stat line with six rebounds, two steals, one block and an assist. Tucker added 20 in 33 minutes of action off of the bench.
Southern Arkansas will open play in the eight-team, single-elimination GAC tournament against the conference's top seed Harding on March 5 at 5:45 p.m. in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.