By: Jacob Pumphrey
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SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
LADY MULERIDERS
0-0 (0-0 GAC)
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LINDENWOOD LIONS
0-0 (0-0 MIAA) |
LINCOLN BLUE TIGERS
0-0 (0-0 MIAA) |
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GAME NOTES (PDF)
LADY MULERIDER NEWS AND NOTES
Southern Arkansas tips off the 2017-18 season in St. Charles, Missouri, at the GAC/MIAA Crossover Challenge hosted by Lindenwood University. The Lady Muleriders open play on Friday, November 10, with an 11 a.m. tip-off against the host Lions. SAU follows that in-region affair with an early morning 10 a.m. matchup on Saturday with Lincoln University; the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Live coverage links for the GAC/MIAA Crossover Challenge can be found at www.muleriderathletics.com.
Coming off a 6-20 season with a 4-18 record in Great American Conference play, the Lady Muleriders have regrouped under the leadership of third-year head coach
Julio Pacheco and feature a rebuilt roster that returns just four players from last year's team including a pair of starters, while welcoming in seven newcomers: four Division I transfers, two players from the junior college ranks and a true freshman.
Despite the revamped roster, key familiar faces remained in Magnolia following the 2016-17 season which includes last season's top two scorers in sophomore Kimberly Crown (Greenland, Ark.) and senior Anna Djedjemel (Castellanza, Italy). Crown led the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game and rebounding with 7.2 boards per game. Crown produced four double-doubles and scored 15 or more points eight times last season, and was second on the team in minutes played behind Djedjemel's team-leading 29.5 minutes per contest. Djedjemel paced the SAU backcourt with 70 assists at 2.7 per game and produced a team-best 1.6 steals per game for a Southern Arkansas defense that finished the season ranked third in the GAC in steals per game with 7.8.
Sophomore Erin Brinkley (Tyler, Texas) returns after averaging a dozen minutes per game in her rookie campaign. Brinkley was SAU's top free-throw shooter last season after shooting 80% from the stripe in just 20 attempts, while classmate Crown owned the top percentage from the line among players with 50 or more attempts (118-of-162 | 72.8%). Redshirt freshman Brette Wacha (Texarkana, Texas) will see meaningful minutes as a guard this season after redshirting last year.
Newcomers will undoubtedly play a key role for Southern Arkansas this season as Division I transfers in senior Sue Key (Minnesota | Dubach, La.), juniors Olivia McWilliams (Central Arkansas | Little Rock, Ark.) and Angela Villarreal (Texas-RGV | Weslaco, Texas) and sophomore Tuana Dinc (Texas-RGV | Ankara, Turkey) boast high-level basketball experience.
Joining the four Division I transfers are a pair of junior college performers that will see important minutes for an 11-player roster. Juniors Ramiah Henry (Paris Junior College | Toledo, Ohio) and Tiaunna Watkins (John A. Logan College | Hot Springs, Ark.) joined Pacheco's roster this fall, while freshman Maggie Evans (Conway HS | Conway, Ark.) comes to Magnolia after a standout prep career for the Wampus Cats.
Last season, the Lady Muleriders averaged the fewest points in the Great American Conference at 60 ppg with a league-low scoring margin of -9.4. But defensively, Southern Arkansas was one of six GAC teams to hold opponents under an average of 70 ppg, while owning the fifth-best rebounding defense (5th | 38.7) in the conference and averaging 2.8 blocked shots per game and 7.8 steals per game. With several new additions in the backcourt and the returning presence of Crown and Brinkley among others in the front court, Southern Arkansas is primed to trump preseason expectations set forth by the league's head coaches who tabbed the Lady Muleriders to a last-place finish this season.
This weekend's season-opening trip to Missouri will be just the third and fourth neutral site games in Pacheco's tenure. With no such games played on the schedule last season, the Lady Muleriders went 1-1 in 2015-16 on neutral courts with both of those contests coming at the league's postseason tournament in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
In season-openers, Southern Arkansas is just 1-5 since beginning play in the Great American Conference in 2011. The lone season-opening win came in the 2015-16 opener: a 72-68 win at Philander Smith.
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: LINDENWOOD LIONS
Lindenwood, picked to finish seventh in the MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, returns four starters and 76% of its scoring from last year's team that went 14-16 overall and 7-12 in MIAA play, while also making a run to the league tournament semifinals which included a quarterfinal upset of top-seeded Pitt State. Lindenwood won six more games last season than the year prior despite having almost 65% of its minutes filled by underclassmen with the team's top four scorers being first-year players. Among those starters returning are MIAA Freshman of the Year Kallie Bildner who averaged 14.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game in her rookie campaign en route to being named to the 2017 Women's Division II Bulletin All-American All-Freshman team . Classmates Gabby Walker and MIAA All-Tournament performer Lindsay Medlen also return for Lindenwood who combined to average almost 20.0 ppg last season.
COACH
Tony Francis enters his eighth season at the helm of the Lindenwood Women's Basketball program and owns an overall head coaching record of 89-109. In his tenure at Lindenwood, Francis has turned around the Lion program, while also seeing its transition to the NCAA Division II level. In 2010-11, his first year on the job, Francis led Lindenwood to a 21-10 record and a 15-5 mark in league play: the program's first winning season in nine years. Seven years later, Francis has won ten or more ball games in a season four times, while making four trips to the MIAA Tournament with last season's trip to semifinals being the deepest run of the four.
THE SERIES
It will be the first meeting between the two schools since 1995-96, when Southern Arkansas joined NCAA as a Division II member.
SCOUTING: LINCOLN BLUE TIGERS
Lincoln was just 5-21 last season with a 4-15 mark in MIAA play. The Blue Tigers were a game away from reaching the postseason last year and return six players to this year's roster. Tyler Brown-Henderson is the top-returning scorer for Lincoln after averaging 5.3 points in her junior campaign. Citlali Lopez averaged 4.1 points and recorded 35 assists and 32 steals last season. Tempary Gunter started 15 games and averaged 3.7 rebounds, while Kailey Foster returns for her senior season after playing in 22 games last season.
COACH
Ayana McWilliams enters her second year as head coach of the Lincoln Women's Basketball program after taking over for the Blue Tigers in 2016-17. McWilliams won five games in her first year as Lincoln's head coach. McWilliams boast a bevy of coaching experience with her most recent stint coming as a five-year assistant at Division I University of South Carolina Upstart of the Atlantic Sun Conference. She has also coached at Elizabeth City, Livingstone, and Winston-Salem State.
THE SERIES
It will be the first meeting between the two schools since 1995-96, when Southern Arkansas joined NCAA as a Division II member.
