By: Jacob Pumphrey
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SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
LADY MULERIDERS
0-2 (0-0 GAC)
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SOUTHERN NAZARENE
CRIMSON STORM
0-0 (0-0 GAC) |
OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
LADY BISON
1-1 (0-0 GAC) |
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GAME NOTES (PDF)
TIPPING OFF
It was a rough opening weekend for the Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider Basketball team as they dropped a pair of contests at the GAC/MIAA Crossover Challenge. But a regrouped Lady Mulerider squad heads into the Sooner State for a pair of early season Great American Conference clashes beginning with a Thursday night tilt in Bethany, Oklahoma, against Southern Nazarene (0-0). SAU concludes the road trip on Saturday in Shawnee against Oklahoma Baptist (1-1). Live coverage links for all of the weekend's action can be found at www.muleriderathletics.com/coverage.aspx.
LADY MULERIDER NEWS AND NOTES
Southern Arkansas heads to the Sooner State for the first time in the 2017-18 season and opens Great American Conference play on Thursday night in Bethany, Oklahoma, with a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against Southern Nazarene. The road trip concludes on Saturday in Shawnee, Oklahoma, against Oklahoma Baptist in a 1 p.m. tip-off from inside the Noble Complex. Live coverage links for the weekend's action can be found at www.muleriderathletics.com.
The Lady Muleriders (0-2) suffered a pair of losses at the hands of Lindenwood and Lincoln at the GAC/MIAA Crossover Challenge during the season's opening weekend. Third-year head coach
Julio Pacheco carries a refocused group into Oklahoma for its first two conference tests of the season.
Southern Arkansas is currently averaging 55.5 points per game and shooting 37.5% (42-of-112) as a team from the field. SAU is shooting 74.2% from the free throw line and through eight quarters is averaging 33.5 rebounds, 9.5 assists, 8.5 steals, and 3.5 blocks per game. Through two games, transfer senior Sue Key (Minnesota | Dubach, La.) leads the team in scoring averaging 11.5 points per contest, while sophomore Tuana Dinc (Texas-RGV | Ankara, Turkey) follows with 11.0 points per game. Dinc boasts the top shooting clip at .615 (8-of-13), while junior Olivia McWilliams (Central Arkansas | Little Rock, Ark.) is shooting 54.5% (6-of-11) from the floor. Sophomore Erin Brinkley (Tyler, Texas) and freshman Maggie Evans (Conway HS | Conway, Ark.) have each been perfect at the charity stripe this season, while Evans averages a team-best 5.0 rebounds per game. Senior guard Anna Djedjemel (Castellanza, Italy) paces the team with 2.5 assists per game, while junior Ramiah Henry (Paris Junior College | Toledo, Ohio) averages a team-high 2.0 steals per game. Since Pacheco's arrival, Southern Arkansas is 4-4 in league games played before the New Year and faces four league opponents before the calender turns to 2018 beginning with Southern Nazarene and Oklahoma Baptist.
COACH
The Lady Muleriders are coached by
Julio Pacheco, who begins his third season at Southern Arkansas. Pacheco guided the Lady Muleriders to a NCAA DII program record 19 wins and their first postseason victory in nine years in his first year on the job and after a rebuilding year in 2016-17, Pacheco has the new look Lady Muleriders poised to return to the Great American Conference Tournament.
SCOUTING SOUTHERN NAZARENE CRIMSON STORM
The Storm's only action of the 2017-18 season entering Thursday night's Great American Conference opener is a 73-62 exhibition win over Southwestern Christian on November 10. Southern Nazarene returns three starters from last year's team including its leading scorer and All-GAC Honorable Mention performer Adrienne Berry, Rachel Doerneman, and Irene Perez. SNU will look to replace its leading rebounder after losing Danielle Gaddis to graduation, but retains the services of several "off-the-bench" performers from 2016-17 in Sidney Carolina, Kandyce Freeman, and Madeline Schroepfer who will again be in the mix this season.
COACH
Southern Nazarene is led by Derek Dorris, who is in his sixth season as the head coach of the Crimson Storm Women's Basketball program. Last year, Dorris and the Storm posted a 13-14 mark overall, a 10-12 record in Great American Conference play, and made the program's first trip to the postseason as a Division II member. Dorris has tallied a career-record at SNU of 60-75 (.444) entering the 2017-18 campaign. In 2012-13, Dorris led SNU to the NCCAA National Championship, while garnering NCCAA Coach of the Year honors.
LAST TIME OUT
Southern Arkansas and Southern Nazarene last met in late February last season inside the Sawyer Center where the Storm picked up an 87-69 Great American Conference win over SAU. SNU led 44-31 at the intermission and 65-44 through three quarters to earn their 12th league win of that campaign. The Crimson Storm's Adrienne Berry and Rachel Doerneman combined for 31 points on a collective 13-of-28 shooting with the latter adding ten points in a double-double effort. For SAU,
Jasmyn Eckerman led with 15 points and Kimberly Crown followed with 14 and a game-high six rebounds.
THE SERIES
Southern Nazarene holds a 7-3 series lead over the Lady Muleriders since joining the Great American Conference at the beginning of the 2012-13 season. Southern Arkansas is just 1-4 against the Storm inside the Sawyer Center with the lone win coming during the 2015-16 season: a 90-78 win in Pacheco's first-year as head coach.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA BAPTIST LADY BISON
Oklahoma Baptist enters the first weekend of conference play with a 1-1 record overall after picking up a 90-82 season-opening win over Missouri Southern at the GAC/MIAA Crossover Challenge in Joplin, Missouri, before falling to #11 Emporia State 86-64 the next day. The Lady Bison began the season with an exhibition matchup against Wichita State on November 1 and the Division I Shockers won by just 11 points, 65-54. OBU will be without two key forwards this season in All-GAC Honorable Mention performer Katy Custer and Imari Bell as both could miss the entire season due to injuries, but through two games several players have stepped in to fill the void as Shaylan Coleman leads the team averaging 19.5 points per game, while Tasha Edge follows with a dozen points per contest. Three additional players are averaging eight or more points per game including McKenzie Cooper who paces the Lady Bison in rebounds per game with 6.0, while Edge adds 5.5. Both players are the top two three-point shooters on the team, while Coleman leads all players in free-throw percentage with at least ten attempts (.692). Autumn Avina is key in manufacturing the offense leading the Lady Bison attack by averaging six assists per game, with Coleman averaging five. Avina also leads the team in steals with five and Coleman follows with three. Through just two contests, Oklahoma Baptist is outscoring its opponents by a combined 25 points in the first and fourth quarters.
COACH
The Lady Bison are coached by Casi Bays, who is in her sixth season as head coach at Oklahoma Baptist. Last year, the Lady Bison went 9-19 overall; the program's first season under Bays' leadership that OBU failed to win at least 14 games. Entering the 2017-18 season, Bays has amassed a 95-61 record overall. The 2013-14 Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, Bays has recorded two 25-win seasons including a career-high 28 wins in her second season, while making a trip to the NAIA National Quarterfinals in the 2014-15 season.
LAST TIME OUT
Southern Arkansas avenged a 67-53 loss to Oklahoma Baptist in Magnolia on January 5, by knocking off the Lady Bison in a close 74-71 road win on February 25 in the season finale for both teams. Four Lady Muleriders scored in double figures led by Kimberly Crown's 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting and Southern Arkansas was able to thwart a second-half run from OBU to win just its second road game of the season.
THE SERIES
The Lady Muleriders are just 1-3 in the only four meetings with Oklahoma Baptist. The lone win for SAU in the brief series happened in Shawnee as the Lady Muleriders claimed a 74-71 win in the regular season finale. Three of the four meetings have been decided by less than five points with two of those being decided by just a basket.
