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GAME NOTES | SAU | OKB | SNU

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Tipping Off
The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team is set to close out the regular season with two games inside the friendly confines of the W.T. Watson Center as they welcome in Oklahoma Baptist on Thursday night and then Southern Nazarene on Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Muleriders have already clinched a berth into the 2016 GAC Basketball Championships in Bartlesville, Okla., but there is still a lot on the line over the final two games of the regular season as they are currently tied for second-place in the GAC Standings.

The Lady Muleriders will also be one win shy of tying a program record for wins in a season as members of NCAA Division II as they currently have 17 wins on the year.
 

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LADY MULERIDER NEWS AND NOTES
The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team enters play this weekend with a 17-7 overall record and a 13-7 mark in the Great American Conference. The Lady Muleriders have won their last three games are now tied for second-place in the GAC standings entering the final week of the regular season.

On the season, the Lady Muleriders are averaging 74.6 points per game while allowing their opponents to score an average of 68.5 points per game for a scoring margin of +6.2. Their points per game average ranks third in the GAC, while their scoring defense ranks fifth and their scoring margin ranks second within the league.

As a team, the Lady Muleriders are shooting .451 (701-of-1,556) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .330 (102-of-309) from long range. From the free throw line, the Lady Muleriders are shooting .648 (287-of-443). Their overall field goal percentage ranks second in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks fifth. At the charity stripe the Lady Muleriders' percentage ranks 12th.

In terms of individual production, the Lady Muleriders have three players averaging double figures with Rosa Bryant leading the way at 18.9 points per game. Bryant's scoring average currently ranks fourth in the GAC and 31st in DII. Shana Holmes is next in double-figure scoring at 13.5 ppg. Tierra Tucker rounds out double-figure scoring at 11.8
ppg. Bryant is also the team's leading rebounder at 11.5 rebounds per game. Additionally, Bryant's rebounding average currently ranks first in the GAC and 12th in DII.

Defensively, the Lady Muleriders have forced 418 turnovers with 207 of those being steals. Additionally, the Lady Muleriders are allowing their opponents to shoot at a clip of .384 (563-of-1,468) overall from the floor and .309 (168-of-544) 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 this weekend with a 13-13 overall record and an 11-9 mark in the Great American Conference. The Lady Bison won their last four games including a thrilling 85-81 overtime win against Southwestern Oklahoma in their home finale.

On the season, the Lady Bison are averaging 72.1 points per game while allowing their opponents to score an average of 68.5 points per game for a scoring margin of +3.6. Their points per game average ranks fourth in the GAC, while their scoring defense ranks sixth and their scoring margin ranks sixth within the league.

As a team, the Lady Bison are shooting .397 (647-of-1,659) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .327 (197-of-602) from long range. From the free throw line, the Lady Bison are shooting .723 (384-of-531). Their overall field goal percentage ranks eighth in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks eighth. At the
charity stripe the Lady Bison's percentage ranks fifth.

In terms of individual production, the Lady Bison have two players averaging double figures with McKenzie Cooper leading the way at 13.5 points per game. Behind Copper is Arielle Cooper at 11.3 ppg. Cameerah Graves and Tasha Edge are just outside double-figure scoring at 9.2 ppg. and 9.1 ppg., respectively.

Defensively, the Lady Bison have forced 424 turnovers with 223 of those being steals. Additionally, the Lady Bison are allowing their opponents to shoot at a clip of .397 (609-of-1,535) overall from the floor and .315 (181-of-575) 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.

THE SERIES
This is will be the second meeting all-time between the Lady Muleriders and the Lady Bison. The initial meeting went to Oklahoma Baptist as they beat SAU 89-81 in  Shawnee.
 

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SCOUTING SOUTHERN NAZARENE
The Southern Nazarene women's basketball team enters play this weekend with a 6-17 overall record and a 5-15 mark in the Great American Conference. The Crimson Storm are coming off of a loss in their last game as they fell by a score of 73-70 on the road at Southeastern Oklahoma.

On the season, the Crimson Storm are averaging 66.7 points per game while allowing their opponents to score an average of 74.9 points per game for a scoring margin of -8.2. Their points per game average ranks ninth in the GAC, while their scoring defense ranks 11th and their scoring margin ranks 11th within the league.

As a team, the Crimson Storm are shooting .385 (548-of-1,422) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .329 (139-of-423) from long range. From the free throw line, the Crimson Storm are shooting .721 (298-of-410). Their overall field goal percentage ranks ninth in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks sixth. At the charity stripe the Crimson Storm percentage ranks second.

In terms of individual production, the Crimson Storm have two players averaging double figures with Abby Boyd leading the way at 16.9 points per game. Boyd's points per game currently rank her sixth in the GAC. Behind Boyd is Adrienne Berry at 10.3 ppg and Rachel Doerneman is just outside of double figure scoring at 9.0 ppg. Defensively, the Crimson Storm have forced 323 turnovers with 134 of those being steals. Additionally, the Crimson Storm are allowing their opponents to shoot at a clip of .417 (604-of-1,449) overall from the floor and .341 (179-of-525) from beyond the arc.

COACH
The Crimson Storm are coached by Derek Dorris, who is in his fourth season at Southern Nazarene. In his previous three seasons, Dorris has amassed a 41-42 overall record. His best season thus far was his first at the helm as he led the Crimson Storm to a 21-10 record, culminating in a NCCAA National Championship.

THE SERIES
This is will be the eighth meeting all-time between the Lady Muleriders and the Crimson Storm. Thus far in the series, Southern Nazarene leads 5-2.