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GAME NOTES | SAU | HSU

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Tipping Off
The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team is in the Great American Conference Basketball Championship Tournament for the third-straight year and are in for the
first time under first-year head coach Julio Pacheco.

Prior to the start of the season, the Lady Muleriders were picked to finish 11th in the preseason coaches' poll, but a 14-8 GAC record saw the Lady Muleriders tie for third-place in the regular season standings.

By way of tie-breakers, however, the Lady Muleriders enter the tournament as the No. 4-seed and will take on No. 5-seed Henderson State in the opening round.

The No. 4-seed for the Lady Muleriders in this year's tournament represents their highest seeding in GAC Tournament history. The Lady Muleriders will also be looking to win
their first game in the GAC Tournament as they are currently 0-2 all-time.
 

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LADY MULERIDER NEWS AND NOTES
The Southern Arkansas women's basketball team enters the Great American Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed after they concluded their regular season with an 18-8 overall record while finishing with a 14-8 mark in the GAC to finish in a tie for third-place in the regular season standings.

On the season, the Lady Muleriders are averaging 75.2 points per game while allowing their opponents to score an average of 68.3 points per game for a scoring margin of +6.9. 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 .449 (755-of-1,680) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .334 (115-of-344) from long range. From the free throw line, the Lady Muleriders are shooting .653 (329-of-504). 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 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 32nd in DII. Shana Holmes is next in double-figure scoring at 13.7 ppg. Tierra Tucker rounds out double-figure scoring at 12.0 ppg. Bryant is also the team's leading rebounder at 11.3 rebounds per game. Additionally, Bryant's rebounding average currently ranks first in the GAC and 15th in DII.

Defensively, the Lady Muleriders have forced 461 turnovers with 228 of those being steals. Additionally, the Lady Muleriders are allowing their opponents to shoot at a clip of .382 (608-of-1,592) overall from the floor and .307 (181-of-590) 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 HENDERSON STATE
The Henderson State women's basketball team enters the Great American Conference Tournament as the No. 5 seed after they concluded their regular season with a 14-14 overall record while finishing with a 13-9 mark in the GAC to finish in a fifth-place in the regular season standings.

On the season, the Reddies are averaging 69.9 points per game while allowing their opponents to score an average of 71.1 points per game for a scoring margin of -1.2. Their points per game average ranks seventh in the GAC, while their scoring defense ranks eighth and their scoring margin ranks seventh within the league.

As a team, the Reddies are shooting .406 (674-of-1,662) overall from the floor which includes a shooting mark of .335 (176-of-525) from long range. From the free throw line, the Reddies are shooting .670 (433-of-646). Their overall field goal percentage ranks sixth in the GAC while their 3-point field goal percentage ranks fifth. At the charity stripe the Reddies' percentage ranks 11th.

In terms of individual production, the Reddies have three players averaging double figures with Dulincia Keener leading the way at 18.4 points per game. Behind Keener is Victoria Stewart at 13.1 ppg. Haleigh Henson rounds out double-figure scoring at 11.3 ppg. Defensively, the Reddies have forced 399 turnovers with 162 of those being steals. Additionally, the Reddies are allowing their opponents to shoot at a clip of .404 (734-of-1,819) overall from the floor and .297 (149-of-501) from beyond the arc.

COACH
The Reddies are coached by Jill Thomas, who is in her third season at Henderson State. In her previous two seasons, Thomas has led the Reddies to a 23-31 overall record. Prior to coming to Henderson, Thomas was the head coach at Pfeiffer University for four years. In her time at Pfeiffer, Thomas would go 65-48 including a 25-7 mark in her final season.

THE SERIES
This is will be the 35th meeting since the beginning of the 1999-2000 season between the Lady Muleriders and the Reddies. In that time, the Reddies hold a 21-13 advantage over SAU, but the Lady Muleriders have won the last three meetings and four of the last five. This will be the first meeting between the two in the Great American Conference Tournament.