ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The 2017-18 NCAA Basketball season got off to a rough start for the Southern Arkansas Lady Muleriders as Lindenwood topped SAU 90-54 in the season opener for both teams at the GAC/MIAA Crossover Challenge on Friday afternoon inside Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Missouri.
 
Southern Arkansas (0-1) trailed 26-12 after the opening quarter and 40-23 at the intermission as Lindenwood outscored the Lady Muleriders 16-6 in the paint in the first half, while also shooting 40.0% (12-of-30) from the floor and 81.3% (13-of-16) from the line in the first two quarters.
 
The Lions took to the floor in the second half and used a big third quarter to distance themselves from Southern Arkansas.
 
Sophomore newcomer Tuana Dinç led SAU in scoring with ten points on 4-of-6 shooting in 17 minutes of action in her debut for the Lady Muleriders. Two more newcomers followed Dinç in scoring as senior Sue Key and junior Ramiah Henry each added nine points with junior Angela Villarreal chipping in with eight points. Sophomore Kimberly Crown paced the front court with a game-high seven rebounds.
 
For Lindenwood, sophomore Kallie Bildner picked up where she left off in her All-American campaign as a freshman by dropping 30 points, including a perfect 16-of-16 from the charity stripe, while adding 15 rebounds in a double-double effort.
 
The Lady Muleriders face a quick turnaround with an early morning tip-off against Lincoln University at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning, Saturday, November 11. Live coverage links of the matchup can be found here: http://muleriderathletics.com/coverage.aspx.