MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider Basketball team suffered a 66-49 loss to #13 Arkansas Tech in Great American Conference action on Saturday afternoon inside the W.T. Watson Center.  
 
RECORDS
#13 Arkansas Tech (11-1, 7-1 GAC)
Southern Arkansas (3-9, 1-7 GAC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• A high intensity first quarter of action saw Southern Arkansas match the nationally-ranked Golden Suns step-for-step until the final shot of the opening period.
• Arguably the turning point in Saturday afternoon's contest came on a desperation heave by Arkansas Tech's Calli White, who banked a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the first quarter to erase a 12-11 SAU advantage and give the Golden Suns offense momentum.
• The first ten minutes saw each team score a bucket in the first three and a half minutes.
• Highlighting that first quarter surge for SAU was a steal and fast break layup by junior guard Anna Djedjemel for SAU's first points, while classmate guard Kemahri Soward turned a hustle-play into a fast-break block.
• The Golden Suns would outscore SAU 35-18 in the second and third quarters to win their tenth-straight contest.

 
FOR SOUTHERN ARKANSAS

• Two days after scoring a career-high 21 points to lead SAU, Djedjemel led SAU in scoring again with 12 points, while adding four rebounds and three steals in 31 minutes.
• Freshman forward Kimberly Crown followed with 11 points, four rebounds and a pair of blocks in 27 minutes.
• Sophomore guard Jasmyn Eckerman grabbed a team-high five rebounds to go along with six points and classmate guard Jaida Harden collected four steals.
• Soward saw a career-high 35 minutes in her first start as a Lady Mulerider.

 
FOR THE OPPOSITION

• Anissa Pounds led the Golden Suns in scoring with a game-high 18 points and Cheyenne North followed with a dozen points and ten rebounds in a double-double effort.
• North finished three assists shy of a triple-double as she led ATU with a game-high seven assists.
• Calli White and Danielle Frachiseur added eight points, while the latter grabbed four boards.
• Kelsey McClure seven points and six rebounds.
• North and Kylie Ladd each collected three steals.

 
OF NOTE

• ATU outscored Southern Arkansas in points off of turnovers (18-12), second chance points (8-3), paint points (34-20) and fast break points (6-2).
• The Lady Muleriders recorded their second-highest free throw percentage of the season at .792 (19-of-24) and forced an opponent-low three-point attempts (13).

 
UP NEXT

• Southern Arkansas faces a quick turnaround and will be back in action on Monday, January 16, for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off with "Rivalry Monday" foe Arkansas-Monticello inside the W.T. Watson Center in Magnolia.
• Live stats for the contest can be found here: http://www.sidearmstats.com/saumag/wbball.
• Live video will also be provided: https://livestream.com/accounts/10140781.
• 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.