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GAME NOTES | SAU | OKB

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Tipping Off
The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team is back in action with all of their attention now being paid towards the Great American Conference as the non-conference portion of their schedule is complete. As they hit the hardwood for the first time in 2016, the Lady Muleriders will be looking to continue their hot start to the season as they will enter play with a 7-1 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the GAC. The lone loss for the Lady Muleriders came to the hands of GAC-foe Southwestern Oklahoma, but it was not before the Lady Muleriders started the season 5-0 for their best start since the 2003-04 season.
 

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LADY MULERIDER NEWS AND NOTES
The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team enters play on Thursday with a 7-1 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the Great American Conference. The Lady Muleriders are currently riding a two-game winning streak after impressive wins over LeMoyne-Owen and Philander Smith over Christmas Break. The two wins got the Lady Muleriders back on the winning track after their 5-0 start to the season was halted at home by Southwestern Oklahoma in SAU's last GAC game. On the season, the Lady Muleriders are averaging 77.6 points per game while allowing their opponents to score an average of 66.0 points per game for a scoring margin of +11.6. Their points per game average ranks third in the GAC, while their scoring defense ranks in a tie for third and their scoring margin ranks second within the league.

As a team, the Lady Muleriders are shooting .468 (245-of-523) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .319 (36-of-113) from long range. From the free throw line, the Bison are shooting .655 (95-of-145). Their overall field goal percentage ranks second in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks seventh. At the charity stripe the Lady Muleriders' percentage ranks in a tie for 10th.

In terms of individual production, the Lady Muleriders have two players averaging double figures with Rosa Bryant leading the way at 22.4 points per game. Bryant's scoring average currently ranks second in the GAC and sixth in DII. The other player averaging double figures is Shana Holmes at 14.4 ppg. Bryant is also the team's leading rebounder at 12.9 rebounds per game. Additionally, Bryant's rebounding average currently ranks fourth in DII, making Bryant the only player to rank in the top-10 in each stat category.

Defensively, the Lady Muleriders have forced 146 turnovers with 67 of those being steals. Additionally, the Lady Muleriders are allowing their opponents to shoot at a clip of .372 (182-of-489) overall from the floor and .348 (57-of-164) 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 OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
The Oklahoma Baptist women's basketball team enters play on Thursday with a 3-7 overall record and a 1-3 mark in the Great American Conference. The Bison are coming off of a win in their last game, a 76-47 win over St. Gregory's, but OKB has lost their last three GAC games with defeats coming against Henderson State, Arkansas Tech,
and Harding.

On the season, the Bison are averaging 67.0 points per game while allowing their opponents to score an average of 69.7 points per game for a scoring margin of -2.7. Their points per game average ranks eighth in the GAC, while their scoring defense also ranks eighth and their scoring margin ranks ninth within the league.

As a team, the Bison are shooting .376 (234-of-623) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .289 (63-of-218) from long range. From the free throw line, the Bison are shooting .670 (148-of-221). Their overall field goal percentage ranks ninth in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks 10th. At the charity stripe the
Bison's percentage ranks ninth.

In terms of individual production, the Bison have two players averaging double figures with McKenzie Cooper leading the way at 15.5 points per game. The other player averaging double figures is Katy Custer at 11.7 ppg. Arielle Cooper is just off the double-digit scoring mark at 9.9 ppg to rank third on the team.

Defensively, the Bison have forced 169 turnovers with 78 of those being steals. Additionally, the Bison are allowing their opponents to shoot at a clip of .384 (231-of-602) overall from the floor and .271 (54-of-199) from beyond the arc.

COACH
The Bison are coached by Casi Bays, who is in her fifth season at Oklahoma Baptist. In her previous four seasons at OKB, Bays had amassed an 84-41 overall record. Over the past two seasons, Bays has led the Bison to at least 27 wins each season going 55-11 in that time. This is the first season that Bays' Bison are competing as members of the GAC and it is their second year as NCAA provisional members as well.
 

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THE SERIES
This is will be the first-ever meeting between the Lady Muleriders and Bison in women's basketball.

ON TAP
The Lady Muleriders will remain on the road and will take on Southern Nazarene on Saturday afternoon with tip-off scheduled for 1 p.m.