MONTICELLO, Ark. – Southern Arkansas was unable to grab the lead halfway through the third quarter after tying the Great American Conference affair with Arkansas-Monticello at 35, and the Blossoms cruised for the remainder of the evening as they defeated the Lady Muleriders, 66-49, in a Rivalry Monday clash inside Steelman Field House.
RECORDS
Arkansas-Monticello Blossoms (11-11, 8-10 GAC)
Southern Arkansas Lady Muleriders (5-17, 3-15 GAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- In the opening quarter, Arkansas-Monticello's largest lead was four as the game featured four tied scores in the first ten minutes and concluded with Kimberly Crown knocking down a pair of free throws to give the Lady Muleriders their first lead of the evening at 15-14.
- Back-and-forth action authored the first six and a half minutes of the second quarter, before a layup by Aaliyah Holmes put Southern Arkansas up by four, 27-23, with 3:11 remaining in the second quarter. The four-point advantage was the largest for SAU in the game.
- Crown answered a three-pointer by UAM's Taylor Collins with an inside bucket to push the Lady Mulerider lead to three, 29-26, before three-pointers by Collins and Braxton Chumley in the final 46 seconds of the second quarter gave the Blossoms a 32-29 lead at the intermission.
- Arkansas-Monticello's lead grew to six through the first two minutes after the halftime break, but SAU used a 6-0 run with buckets from Jasmyn Eckerman, Alyssa Hamilton, and Anna Djedjemel to tie the contest at 35 with 5:44 to play in the third quarter.
- Makaila Jordan scored inside for Southern Arkansas answering a pair of UAM buckets with 4:21 left in the third quarter and the Blossoms leading 39-37.
- The Lady Muleriders would go without a field goal for the final 4:21 of the third quarter as UAM used that time to build a 12-point advantage, before Eckerman converted a pair of free throws to put the SAU deficit at 49-39 heading into the final quarter of action.
- UAM's advantage would blossom to twenty points with 6:25 to play, and the Lady Muleriders only managed to come within 15 points of the lead down the stretch.
FOR SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
- Jordan led SAU in scoring with 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting and added eight rebounds.
- Djedjemel followed with a dozen points, accounting for SAU's only two three-point field goals. She also added three rebounds and a team-high two steals.
- Eckerman added ten points and finished a rebound shy of a double-double effort, while collecting two assists, a block and one steal off of the bench.
- Crown registered a game-high three blocks and added five rebounds, while classmates Aaliyah Holmes and Kory Westerman produced a pair of assists each.
FOR THE OPPOSITION
- Treasure Evans led the Blossoms with 18 points, including 8-of-11 shooting from the free throw line and added nine rebounds.
- Collins followed with 14 points and Ayesha Ward added ten points.
- Mia Hayes recorded a game-high three steals and chipped in with nine points, while Nelsha Peterson collected game-highs with 13 rebounds and five assists and added a team-high two blocks.
- Brittnee Broadway contributed with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
OF NOTE
- Arkansas-Monticello outshot SAU from the floor (37.0% to 32.8%), while attempting four fewer shots. The Blossoms also made 21 of their 29 attempts (72.4%) from the charity stripe, with Southern Arkansas converting at a clip of just 56.3% (9-of-16) from the free throw line.
- UAM grabbed three more rebounds (42-39) than SAU and committed three fewer turnovers (11-14).
- The Blossoms outscored SAU in points off of turnovers (10-4), but Southern Arkansas won the battle in the paint (32-26), in second-chance points (10-5) and in bench points (20-14).
- The game featured six lead changes and nine tied scores, with the Lady Muleriders tying the game just once in the second half: at 35 with 5:44 remaining in the third quarter.
UP NEXT
- Southern Arkansas remains on the road for a Thursday, February 16, clash with Ouachita Baptist inside Bill Vining Arena in Arkadelphia. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. The Lady Muleriders defeated the Tigers, 62-55, on January 21, in Magnolia.
- Live stats for Thursday's contest can be found here: http://www.sidearmstats.com/ouachita/wbball/.
- Live video will also be provided: https://livestream.com/obu/events/6651512.
- Dan Gregory will have the call of all the action in Arkadelphia: 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.