ALVA, Okla. – A second-half surge by Southern Arkansas (1-4, 1-2 GAC) was cut short as a slow start in the first-half plagued the Lady Muleriders early on in a 71-64 defeat at the hands of Northwestern Oklahoma State (2-5, 1-2 GAC) in their Great American Conference home opener on Thursday evening inside Percefull Fieldhouse.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• The aforementioned slow start from Southern Arkansas saw Northwestern Oklahoma take a 17-point advantage into the halftime break as the Lady Rangers added ten points on a dozen Lady Mulerider turnovers.
• Northwestern Oklahoma benefitted from hot shooting beyond the arc as the Lady Rangers were 9-for-18 from downtown during the first two quarters of action on Thursday evening, while shooting just under 42% from the floor in the first half.
• SAU led for just 51 seconds in the game as they scored the game's first three points, but managed to trim a 19-point second-half deficit to 68-64 with 23 seconds to play in the contest. By dominating inside (16 to 6) and outscoring the Lady Rangers in second chance points (14 to 3), Southern Arkansas gave itself a chance at the end before NWOSU cashed in at the charity stripe to claim the seven-point win.
• Bench scoring played a key role in Alva as SAU received 19 points off the bench in both the first and second half, while Northwestern needed only 18 bench points in the win.
• Southern Arkansas registered just 14 attempts from the charity stripe, while Northwestern Oklahoma converted 16 of 23 attempts.

 
 
FOR SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
 

• The Lady Muleriders were led in scoring by senior Makaila Jordan who dropped a career-high 16 points and added seven rebounds, three assists and a team-high three steals in 29 minutes off of the bench.
• Freshman Kory Westerman's career-high 14 points came on 4-of-8 shooting including a pair of three-pointers. Westerman added five rebounds and was perfect from the charity stripe in four attempts.
• Junior Demi Read followed with 11 points, while freshman Kimberly Crown added a game-high and career-high dozen rebounds and junior Anna Djedjemel collected a team-leading five assists.

 
 
FOR THE OPPOSITION
 

• Ashley Pride led three Lady Rangers in double digit scoring as she scored 20 points with five coming from the free throw line in the final 35 seconds to help seal the win. Pride shot 11-of-14 from the free throw line and also added a game-high four steals and a team-high seven rebounds.
• Kori Barrios added 16 points, including 4-of-9 shooting from deep, while Deja Beechum followed with 15 points and a game-high two blocks.
• Kalea King led NWOSU with four assists as the Lady Rangers assisted on 18 scoring plays.

 
 
UP NEXT
 

• Southern Arkansas will return to action on December 3, for a Great American Conference contest in Durant, Oklahoma for a 1 p.m. tip-off with Southwestern Oklahoma State from inside Rankin Williams Fieldhouse.
• Live video can be found here: https://livestream.com/accounts/5503429.
• Live stats for the contest can be found here: http://www.sidearmstats.com/swosu/wbball/.
• Be sure to visit muleriderathletics.com for continuing coverage of Lady Mulerider Basketball including pre- and post-game updates, weekly notes, and the coach's show with Head Coach Julio Pacheco.