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GAME NOTES | SAU | ECU

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Tipping Off
The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team continues their three-game home stand this evening as they welcome in East Central. The Lady Muleriders will be looking to get off to a good start as they begin the second-half of their 22-game GAC schedule. Through their first 11 conference games, the Lady Muleriders went 7-4 and have positioned themselves in a tie for third-place entering play tonight. This game will be the second meeting this year between the Lady Muleriders and Tigers. In that first meeting back in mid-November, the Lady Muleriders won 63-59 at East Central.
 

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LADY MULERIDER NEWS AND NOTES
The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team enters play on Thursday with an 11-4 overall record and a 7-4 mark in the Great American Conference. The Lady Muleriders are looking to bounce back from a tough loss to the hands of Harding in their most-recent game played. In that game, the Lady Muleriders held a double-digit lead early in the fourth quarter until a furious late game comeback by the Lady Bisons upended SAU.

On the season, the Lady Muleriders are averaging 77.5 points per game while allowing their opponents to score an average of 70.8 points per game for a scoring margin of +6.7. Their points per game average ranks third in the GAC, while their scoring defense ranks eighth and their scoring margin ranks fourth within the league.

As a team, the Lady Muleriders are shooting .468 (456-of-975) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .323 (60-of-186) from long range. From the free throw line, the Lady Muleriders are shooting .651 (190-of-292). Their overall field goal percentage ranks second in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks sixth. At the charity stripe the Lady Muleriders' percentage ranks 11th.

In terms of individual production, the Lady Muleriders have three players averaging double figures with Rosa Bryant leading the way at 20.9 points per game. Bryant's scoring average currently ranks second in the GAC and eighth in DII. Shana Holmes is next in doublefigure scoring at 13.8 ppg. Tierra Tucker rounds out double-figure scoring at 10.5 ppg. Bryant is also the team's leading rebounder at 12.3 rebounds per game. Additionally, Bryant's rebounding average currently ranks fourth in DII.

Defensively, the Lady Muleriders have forced 265 turnovers with 131 of those being steals. Additionally, the Lady Muleriders are allowing their opponents to shoot at a clip of .386 (359-of-929) overall from the floor and .322 (105-of-326) from beyond the arc.

COACH
The Lady Muleriders are coached by Julio Pacheco, who is in his first season at Southern Arkansas. Prior to becoming the head coach at SAU, Pacheco spent seven seasons as the assistant coach at Arkansas Tech where he helped guide the Golden Suns to the NCAA Tournament four times, advancing as far as the Elite Eight twice. Also while at Tech, Pacheco helped the Golden Suns capture four regular season championships and three conference tournament championships.
 

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SCOUTING EAST CENTRAL
The East Central women's basketball team enters play on Thursday with a 6-9 overall record and a 6-5 mark in the Great American Conference. The Tigers are one of the hottest teams in the GAC as they are winners of their last four games, all in conference play. As a result of their current winning streak, the Tigers have gone from the brink of not qualifying for the GAC Tournament to sixth-place in the standings. On the season, the Tigers are averaging 53.9 points per game while allowing their opponents to score an average of 58.9 points per game for a scoring margin of -5.0. Their points per game average ranks 12th in the GAC, while their scoring defense ranks first and their scoring margin ranks 10th within the league.

As a team, the Tigers are shooting .328 (284-of-867) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .292 (102-of-349) from long range. From the free throw line, the Tigers are shooting .697 (138-of-198). Their overall field goal percentage ranks 12th in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks 10th. At the charity stripe the Tigers' percentage ranks ninth.

In terms of individual production, the Tigers have two players averaging double figures with Alexa Adair leading the way at 13.5 points per game. Adair's points per game currently rank her 12th in the GAC. Behind Adair is Aalyiah Blakely at 10.0 ppg.

Defensively, the Tigers have forced 258 turnovers with 123 of those being steals. Additionally, the Tigers are allowing their opponents to shoot at a clip of .399 (317-of-794) overall from the floor and .293 (80-of-273) from beyond the arc.

COACH
The Tigers are coached by Matt Cole, who is in his second year at ECU. In his first season, Cole led the Tigers to a 15-12 overall record while advancing to the GAC Tournament. Prior to coming to ECU, Cole spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach at Northeastern State.
 

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THE SERIES
This is will be the 15th meeting since the start of the 1999-2000 season between the Lady Muleriders and the Tigers. In that time, the Tigers hold a 9-5 advantage over SAU, but in games played at SAU, the Lady Muleriders are 4-2 over ECU.

ON TAP
The Lady Muleriders will wrap up their three-game home stand on Saturday as they welcome in Southeastern Oklahoma. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. inside the W.T. Watson Center.