MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Kimberly Crown logged her third 20-plus point performance of the season and grabbed ten rebounds in her fourth career double-double effort, while Southern Arkansas was resilient down the stretch in a 69-65 Great American Conference loss to Henderson State on Saturday afternoon inside the W.T. Watson Center.
RECORDS
Henderson State Lady Reddies (8-15, 8-9 GAC)
Southern Arkansas Lady Muleriders (5-16, 3-14 GAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Lady Muleriders led 17-13 after the opening quarter which was highlighted by a 15-2 SAU run that was capped on a three-pointer by Anna Djedjemel.
- Southern Arkansas opened the second quarter scoring five of the period's first seven points as they led 22-13, before Henderson State exploded offensively manufacturing a 15-1 run through the remainder of the first half as the Lady Reddies led 30-23 at the intermission.
- The Lady Muleriders were 0-of-10 from the field during that Henderson State run to close out the first half.
- Crown was 5-of-5 from the free throw line through the first two minutes of the second half and SAU, which trailed by a dozen with 2:31 to play in the third quarter, surged late in the fourth quarter with just under two minutes remaining.
- A baseline jumper by Crown with 1:56 remaining in the game cut the Lady Mulerider deficit to seven at 61-54 and twenty-eight seconds later, she followed with a pair of free throws to bring Southern Arkansas to within five points; the closest SAU had come to the lead since the 8:17 mark of the second quarter.
- Henderson State answered with a pair of free throws with 1:07 to play and at the 49 second mark of the fourth quarter, Crown again knocked down a pair of free throws to pull the Lady Muleriders to within two possessions, 63-58.
- Hailey Estes followed Crown with two free makes after being fouled on the inbound pass as HSU again went back up seven, 65-58.
- A Kory Westerman three-pointer on an assist by Jasmyn Eckerman with 41 seconds left brought the Henderson State lead down to four, and Eckerman followed 15 seconds later with a running jumper bringing Southern Arkansas to within a basket at 65-63.
- After two HSU misses at the charity stripe, Brittany Branum bought the Reddies an extra possession with the game's biggest offensive rebound that led to her making a trip to the free throw line to extend the lead.
- A pair of free throws by Branum after the board and from Haleigh Henson sandwiched a successful jumper from Eckerman in the game's final seconds as the Lady Muleriders dropped the season series to Henderson State.
FOR SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
- Crown got into the scoring act in the second half as she delivered 19 of her 23 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor and 9-of-11 from the free throw line in just 14 minutes of action. In the first half, the freshman was just 2-of-5 from the field with a pair of turnovers.
- Jasmyn Eckerman followed with 11 points in her sixth double-digit scoring output of the season and added five rebounds.
- Djedjemel posted seven points with seven assists and seven rebounds, while collecting a pair of steals.
- Jaida Harden and Makaila Jordan joined Eckerman with five rebounds each.
FOR THE OPPOSITION
- Hailey Estes led Henderson State with 23 points and the Jones sisters, Pink and Blu, added 11 points apiece.
- Lexis Weber grabbed a team-high ten rebounds for the Lady Reddies, while Pink Jones led the HSU offense with three assists, while adding a game-high three steals.
- Four other Lady Reddies scored four or more points and six collected one or more assists.
OF NOTE
- The game featured just three tied scores and three lead changes.
- HSU narrowly outscored SAU in points in the paint (28-26) and second-chance points (18-16).
- Southern Arkansas shot over 46% from the floor in the second half and just under 40% for the game, while the Lady Reddies shot 35.9% overall and just over 41% from the field in the final two quarters.
- A large factor in HSU's success was the team's 17 offensive rebounds as they outrebounded SAU 47-38, while also attempting six more shots and making four more threes.
- It was the fourth time this season and fourth time in her young career that Crown has been successful on nine or more free throw attempts in a game.
- Djedjemel's seven assists are a season-high and a team-high.
UP NEXT
- Southern Arkansas hits the road for the second half of their "Rivalry Monday" series with Arkansas-Monticello. The Great American Conference affair will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, February 13, from Steelman Fieldhouse. The Lady Muleriders defeated UAM, 80-78, in Magnolia, on January 16.
- Live stats for Monday's contest can be found here: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=arkm.
- Live video will also be provided: https://www.youtube.com/user/uamsports.
- Dan Gregory will have the call of all the action in Southeast Arkansas: http://bit.ly/1Tsc86R.
- 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.