MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Lady Mulerider Basketball team suffered the loss in the 2017-18 season's home-opener as GAC opponent East Central Oklahoma topped SAU, 55-46, on Thursday night inside the W.T. Watson Center.
 
East Central got out to a strong start in the opening half as the Tigers led SAU 32-15 at the intermission. The Lady Muleriders outscored East Central in the third and fourth quarter (31-23) with a combined 71.4% (10-of-14) free throw effort, six of which Sue Key accounted for. Defensively, SAU registered seven steals in the second half.
 
Coming out of the intermission, the Lady Muleriders scored the first pair of buckets on a pair of layups by Olivia McWilliams and Anna Djedjemel that cut their scoring deficit to 19-32. Djedjemel and McWilliams made SAU's final three buckets in that quarter with a 26-42 disadvantage going into the fourth.
 
All six of Key's aforementioned made free throws came in the fourth quarter as she tallied half of SAU's points in the quarter with ten total. The Lady Muleriders would come as close as an eight-point deficit in the game's final minute of action, but the Tigers were able to hold off a late SAU rally with a 55-46 final decision.
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Muleriders return back to their home court on Saturday with a league matchup against Southeastern Oklahoma at 1 p.m. inside the W.T. Watson Center.