SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
LADY MULERIDERS
8-2 (4-2 GAC) |
HENDERSON STATE
REDDIES
6-6 (5-1 GAC) |
Thursday, January 14 | 5:30 p.m.
W.T. Watson Center - Magnolia, Ark.
LIVE STATS |LIVE VIDEO|LIVE AUDIO(SAU Radio Feed)
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GAME NOTES |SAU| HSU
Tipping OffThe Southern Arkansas women's basketballteam returns home and will play a gameinside the W.T. Watson Center for the firsttime in 2016 as they welcome in Henderson
State this Thursday.
This will be the first of two scheduledmeetings between the two GAC rivals withthe second matchup coming in Arkadelphia inmid-February.
The matchup figures to feature twohigh-octane offenses as each team is amongthe top-four scoring offenses in the GACand each team possess a dynamic individual
scorer in Henderson's Dulincia Keenerand SAU's
Rosa Bryant. To this point in theseason, Bryant is second-leading scorerin the GAC at 22.4 points per game while
Keener is currently the fourth-best scorerin terms of average at 19.5 points per game.Additionally, Both Bryant and Keener are theonly two players to score 40 or more points ina game in the GAC this season. Bryant scoreda career-high 40 points back in Decemberagainst Southwestern Oklahoma while Keenerscored a GAC and HSU single-game record45 points in her most-recent game againstNorthwestern Oklahoma.
LADY MULERIDER NEWS AND NOTESThe Southern Arkansas women's basketball team enters play onSaturday with an 8-2 overall record and a 4-2 mark in the GreatAmerican Conference. The Lady Muleriders will also enter the gamehaving won their last game on the road at Southern Nazarene, 90-78.That win was a bounce back victory as the Lady Muleriders sufferedtheir first road loss of the season two days prior.
On the season, the Lady Muleriders are averaging 79.2 points pergame while allowing their opponents to score an average of 69.5points per game for a scoring margin of 9.7. Their points per gameaverage ranks third in the GAC, while their scoring defense ranksseventh and their scoring margin ranks second within the league.
As a team, the Lady Muleriders are shooting .471 (311-of-661) overallfrom the floor which includes a shooting mark of .345 (51-of-148) fromlong range. From the free throw line, the Lady Muleriders are shooting.657 (119-of-181). Their overall field goal percentage ranks first in theGAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks third. At the charitystripe the Lady Muleriders' percentage ranks 11th.
In terms of individual production, the Lady Muleriders have twoplayers averaging double figures with
Rosa Bryant leading the wayat 22.4 points per game. Bryant's scoring average currently rankssecond in the GAC and fourth in DII. The other player averaging doublefigures is
Shana Holmes at 14.0 ppg. Bryant is also the team's leadingrebounder at 12.2 rebounds per game. Additionally, Bryant's reboundingaverage currently ranks in a tie for seventh in DII, making Bryantthe only player to rank in the top-10 in each stat category.
Defensively, the Lady Muleriders have forced 181 turnovers with 86of those being steals. Additionally, the Lady Muleriders are allowingtheir opponents to shoot at a clip of .385 (239-of-621) overall fromthe floor and .350 (72-of-206) from beyond the arc.
COACHThe Lady Muleriders are coached by
Julio Pacheco, who is in hisfirst season at Southern Arkansas. Prior to becoming the head coachat SAU, Pacheco spent seven seasons as the assistant coach at ArkansasTech where he helped guide the Golden Suns to the NCAA Tournamentfour times, advancing as far as the Elite Eight twice. Also whileat Tech, Pacheco helped the Golden Suns capture four regular seasonchampionships and three conference tournament championships.
SCOUTING HENDERSON STATEThe Henderson State women's basketball team enters play onThursday with a 6-6 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the Great AmericanConference. The Reddies come into the game having split theirGAC schedule last week with a loss at Southwestern Oklahoma, then a win at Northwestern Oklahoma. Across those two games, the Reddies
are averaging 84.5 points per game.
On the season, the Reddies are averaging 74.2 points per gamewhile allowing their opponents to score an average of 74.2 points pergame for a scoring margin of -0.1. Their points per game averageranks 4th in the GAC, while their scoring defense ranks ninth and theirscoring margin ranks eighth within the league.
As a team, the Reddies are shooting .408 (308-of-755) overall fromthe floor which includes a shooting mark of .349 (74-of-212) from longrange. From the free throw line, the Reddies are shooting .647 (200-of-309). Their overall field goal percentage ranks sixth in the GACwhile their 3-point field goal percentage ranks second. At the charitystripe the Reddies' percentage ranks 12th.
In terms of individual production, the Reddies have three playersaveraging double figures with Dulincia Keener leading the way at 19.5points per game. Keener's points per game currently rank her fourthin the GAC and she is coming off a GAC and HSU single-game record45-point performance. Behind Kenner is Victoria Stewart at 12.9 ppg
and Halieigh Henson rounds out double-figure scoring at 11.7 ppg torank third on the team.
Defensively, the Reddies have forced 180 turnovers with 76 of thosebeing steals. Additionally, the Reddies are allowing their opponentsto shoot at a clip of .390 (319-of-818) overall from the floor and .297(63-of-212) from beyond the arc.
COACHThe Reddies are coached by Jill Thomas, who is in her third seasonat Henderson State. In her previous two seasons, Thomas has ledthe Reddies to a 23-31 overall record. Prior to coming to Henderson,Thomas was the head coach at Pfeiffer University for four years. Inher time at Pfeiffer, Thomas would go 65-48 including a 25-7 mark inher final season.
THE SERIESThis is will be the 33rd meeting since the start of the 2000-01season between the Lady Muleriders and the Reddies. In that time, theReddies hold a 21-11 advantage over SAU.
ON TAPThe Lady Muleriders will hit the road and take on Arkansas Tech thisSaturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. inside the Tucker Coliseum.
