MAGNOLIA, Ark. – A stout defensive performance on Monday night inside the W.T. Watson Center powered the Lady Mulerider Basketball team to a 65-47 win over Arkansas-Monticello as SAU held the Great American Conference's leading scorer in Jordan Goforth to just 11 points on their way to sweeping the regular season "Rivalry Monday" series.
 
The Lady Muleriders (15-7, 11-7 GAC) used big second and fourth quarters outscoring the Blossoms a combined 41-17. The win puts SAU exclusively into fourth place in the GAC standings with four games remaining and clinches the Lady Muleriders a berth in the upcoming GAC Tournament in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, on March 3-6. It will be Southern Arkansas' third-consecutive trip to the postseason.
 
Defensively, SAU held Goforth to 5-of-16 shooting as she played all 40 minutes. Rosa Bryant collected a team-high four steals as the Lady Muleriders forced 10 steals total and forced 18 Blossom turnovers. SAU outscored UAM 22-19 in points off of turnovers. Arkansas-Monticello's 47 points on Monday was the team's lowest output of the year.
 
Shana Holmes led the offensive charge for Southern Arkansas on Monday night as she dropped a game-high 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-6 from behind the arc. She also collected team-highs in rebounds with seven and assists with five. Tierra Tucker and Caroline Ficher each added 11 points and five rebounds apiece.
 
A pair of freshman produced quality games off of the bench for SAU as Alyssa Hamilton and Jaida Harden combined for all 17 of the Lady Muleriders' bench points on a collective 6-of-9 shooting. SAU outscored the Blossom bench, 17-3. Hamilton also produced a pair of blocks.
 
Leading by only seven points heading into the fourth quarter, SAU turned it on offensively as the Lady Muleriders jumped out to a 13-point advantage courtesy of back-to-back three-point buckets from Holmes. Ficher added four points in a four-minute span in the final quarter and consecutive jumpers from Hamilton closed the door on UAM.
 
Southern Arkansas returns to the court on Thursday, February 18 for their final road game of the season as they play in Searcy against the GAC's second-place team Harding. The Lady Muleriders suffered an 83-74 loss to the Lady Bisons on January 25 in Magnolia. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.
 
Be sure to visit muleriderathletics.com for continuing coverage of Lady Mulerider basketball including pregame and postgame updates and the coach's show with head coach Julio Pacheco.