MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Lady Mulerider Basketball team's solid defensive effort along with a career-night 33-points from Sue Key proved to be enough to defeat Harding, 65-58, in Thursday night's league matchup inside the W.T. Watson Center.
 
Southern Arkansas shot 45.2% (14-of-31) from the field in the first half to snag a 6-point advantage over the Lady Bisons, 34-28, at the intermission. In that half, Key tallied 13 points, including three 3-point buckets, to be the only Lady Mulerider in double-digit scoring.
 
SAU's largest lead of the night (+17) came in the third quarter as Key produced a 12-0 scoring run, including a trifecta of 3-point buckets, to help extend the Lady Mulerider lead out to a comfortable 50-33.
 
Harding used the final quarter to cut that deficit in half and pressured SAU with a late 8-0 run to trail by four points, 60-56, at the 00:22 mark. In those final seconds of action, the Lady Muleriders answered with an additional five points to eventually secure the victory over Harding, 65-58.
 
 
OF NOTE

• Key proved to be the offensive catalyst for SAU as her career-high 33 points in the game were the most by a Lady Mulerider since Rosa Bryant scored 40 against Southeastern Oklahoma on December 5, 2015.
• Key registered six of SAU's seven 3-point shots made in the game.
• Tonight's victory was SAU's first win over Harding at home since January 14, 2010.
• The Lady Muleriders totaled 10 fast-break points and scored 18 points off of turnovers.
• Defensively, SAU registered 14 steals in the game

 
UP NEXT

• The Lady Muleriders will travel to Russellville, Ark. on Saturday, January 13, to take on Arkansas Tech in a league matchup with a 1 p.m. tip-off.