By: Jacob Pumphrey
|
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
LADY MULERIDERS
3-11 (2-6 GAC)
|
OUACHITA
LADY TIGERS
8-6 (4-4 GAC)
|
HENDERSON STATE
REDDIES
10-4 (6-2 GAC)
|
|
GAME NOTES (PDF)
After losing their first nine games of the season, the Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider Basketball team has won three of their past five games and is in a position to continue to climb up the league standings. Four of their next five games are inside the W.T. Watson Center, where Southern Arkansas has won two straight. First up for the upstart Lady Muleriders is Ouachita Baptist in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off inside the W.T. Watson Center on Thursday, January 18. SAU hits the road on Saturday for a 1 p.m. meeting with one of the league's best teams in Henderson State and returns to Magnolia for a 5:30 tip-off with Arkansas-Monticello in a rescheduled "Rival Tuesday" matchup. Live links of the weekend's action can be found at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
LADY MULERIDER NEWS AND NOTES
After an 0-9 start to the season, the Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerider Basketball team has won three out of its past five games, including a pair of Great American Conference matchups. The third week of January proves to be a pivotal one for SAU, which as of late is playing some of its best basketball of the season.
The Lady Muleriders will have an opportunity to climb the league standings this week with three conference tilts blanketing the schedule; beginning first with a meeting against Ouachita Baptist on Thursday night inside the W.T. Watson Center. Tip-off from Magnolia is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and will be the first of three games for SAU which is hoping to reverse its fortunes after a slow start to the season which has put the team near the bottom of the GAC standings. SAU heads to Arkadelphia on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip-off with Henderson State, which enters the weekend in third-place in the GAC. On Tuesday, the Lady Muleriders are back in action inside the W.T. Watson Center as they host league-rival Arkansas-Monticello.
Since a convincing December 30 win against Crowley's Ridge, Southern Arkansas (3-11, 2-6 GAC) has engineered a turnaround, evident by improvement in several statistical categories, and finds themselves in a position to make a push for Bartlesville with a month and a half remaining in the regular season. Two of those three wins have come at home and SAU will play four of its next five games in Magnolia.
In the nine losses that SAU suffered to begin the year, the Lady Muleriders averaged just 60.2 points per game with a -12.4 scoring margin, behind a collective 36.2% shooting mark from the floor. In that timespan, Southern Arkansas was also averaging 35.9 rebounds per game, which led to a -8.3 rebounding margin, in addition to averaging over 18 turnovers per game.
But in the Lady Muleriders' last five games, head coach
Julio Pacheco has saw his team improve markedly as offensively SAU boasts a scoring average of 71.0 points per game, including a 19.8 point improvement in scoring margin, while also converting almost 4% more of their shot attempts and grabbing three more rebounds per game.
As much improvement as the offense has shown in its previous five trips to the court, it has been the Lady Mulerider defense that has sparked the midseason dispatch. In its past five games, the Southern Arkansas resistance is allowing 9.1 fewer points, four fewer three-point makes, and four fewer rebounds per game to its opponents, while also seeing the team's steals per game average rise from 8.2 per game to 12.2 per game as well as the team's blocks per game average increase from 3.2 to 7.0.
Additionally, the Lady Muleriders are averaging five fewer turnovers per game in their last five outings than in the team's first nine games this season which has resulted in a 5.9 improvement in turnover margin.
Key(s) to Success
Senior transfer
Sue Key has been a vital factor in Southern Arkansas' successes in 2018. The 5-9 guard, in her last five games, is averaging 20.0 points per game and is shooting just under 42% (35-of-84) from the floor, including a 31.4% (11-of-35) mark from beyond-the-arc. In that time, the Dubach, Louisiana, native has also collected 14 rebounds, a dozen steals, five blocks and three assists.
Plagued with a short bench, Key has proven to be a durable performer for the Lady Muleriders as she leads the team in minutes per game averaging 32 for the season and 34.6 during SAU's aforementioned five-game stand. Key is currently leading the team in scoring with 13.5 points per game, which ranks 12th in the GAC. Her 0.6 blocks per game ranks 15th in the GAC.
Crown Jewel
Sophomore forward
Kimberly Crown has been as equally impressive in SAU's last five games as the Greenland, Arkansas, native is averaging 14.4 points and 9.2 rebounds in that timespan. In her last five games, Crown is shooting over 61% (22-of-36) from the floor and over 77% (28-of-36) from the free-throw line, while adding 11 blocks, six steals and six assists.
Crown's season scoring average of 13.2 points is second on the team and ranks 13th in the GAC, while her season rebounding average of 8.0 ranks seventh in the league. Her 49% shooting from the floor is currently sixth in the GAC and her 77.5% shooting clip from the charity stripe ranks tenth and is the leading free throw clip for a team that owns a 73.1% free throw mark which stands as the fifth-best mark in the league this season.
Crown's 1.8 blocked shots per game average is currently fifth and in her last five games, the 6-1 forward is averaging 2.1 blocks per game. This season, Crown has recorded six games with two or more blocks including a career-high six blocks vs. Crowley's Ridge. The sophomore has scored in double-figures nine times this season, including three games with 20-plus points and has added five games with ten or more rebounds in producing five double-doubles. Crown has led the team in scoring six times and in rebounding eight times.
O and D
Junior guard
Olivia McWilliams (Little Rock, Ark.) and senior guard
Anna Djedjemel (Castellanza, Italy) have been just as impressive as their top-scoring teammates and have gotten the job done on both ends of the court as the duo, in SAU's last five games, have combined for 41 rebounds, 40 assists and 28 steals, while averaging a collective 19 points per game led by McWilliams' 13.2 points.
McWilliams is currently averaging 11.5 points per game which is a Top-20 scoring mark in the GAC. In addition, McWilliams has scored in double figures in four of her past five games. Her 2.8 steals per game place her second in the league in the category and help Southern Arkansas own the third-best steals per game mark in the GAC at 9.6.
This season, Djedjemel's 2.8 assists per game is tied for the 13th-best mark in the GAC and her 1.6 assists per game stand alone as the 13th-best average in the league.
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 OUACHITA
Ouachita enters the third weekend of January with an 8-6 record overall and a 1-5 mark on the road. With a 4-4 record in Great American Conference play, the Lady Tigers are currently in sixth-place in the league standings.
While averaging 68.3 points per game offensively, Ouachita is giving up the fourth-fewest points per game to opponents at 65.6. The Lady Tigers own shooting percentages of 42% from the floor, 32.2% from three-point range and 65.5% from the free-throw line. Ouachita owns one of the best field goal percentage defensive marks by allowing opponents to shoot just 37.8% from the floor. Statistically, the Lady Tigers average 38.7 rebounds per game, 13.6 assists, 7.9 steals and 3.5 blocked shots per game. All four of those averages rank in the middle third statistically in the GAC.
Taylor Bowles is the leading scorer for the Lady Tigers and the only player averaging double-figures in scoring. Bowles scores at an average of 11.7 points per game and three players, Shakyla Begnaud, Chasidee Owens, and Morgan Miller, all average over nine points per game. Miller's nine points per game average comes at the league's second-highest shooting percentage of 55.1% (43-of-78). Within that clip is the conference's third-highest three-point percentage at 47.5% (19-of-40).
Owens leads the team in rebounding averaging 5.4 boards per game which ranks 19th in the GAC. Miller and Kori Bullard also average over 5.0 rebounds per game. Morgan leads the team in assists averaging 2.1 per game and Bullard is the leading shot blocker with 1.5 swats per game. Owens delivers 1.5 steals per game.
COACH
The Lady Tigers are coached by Garry Crowder, who is in his 23rd year as head coach of the Ouachita Lady Tigers Basketball program and 40th season of coaching. His 341 wins at Ouachita entering the 2017-18 season are a school record and entering this season, Crowder has manufactured a career-record of 735-386.
Before taking over at Ouachita in 1995, Crowder spent his first 16 years coaching high school basketball and produced a record of 404-109 (78.8%) with a three-year stop at Taylor High School (AR) and a 13-year stint at Jessieville High School (AR), where he became one the most successful high school basketball coaches in the state of Arkansas.
THE SERIES
Since the 1999-00 season, Ouachita is 21-15 against the Lady Muleriders, including a ten-game win streak from January 2009 through January 2013. After both programs became charter members of the Great American Conference in 2011, the series is even at 6-6. In the last six meetings, Southern Arkansas is 4-2 with a 3-0 record at home.
LAST TIME OUT
These two teams last met in Arkadelphia during the second to last weekend of the 2016-17 campaign. Ouachita topped Southern Arkansas 66-54, behind a big first half in which the Lady Tigers led 39-23 at the break. Turnovers plagued Southern Arkansas in the first half as Ouachita converted 13 Lady Mulerider turnovers into 18 first-half points. The Lady Tigers finished with 30 points off of turnovers as SAU turned it over 23 times. The Lady Muleriders scored just 12 points off of turnovers and added just five points on second-chance attempts, while Ouachita scored 21 second-chance points with 13 of those coming in the second half Eight of OUA's ten fourth quarter points were via second chance.
SCOUTING HENDERSON STATE
Henderson State enters the weekend at 10-4 overall with a 6-2 mark in Great American Conference and in third-place outright in the league standings. The Reddies own a 6-1 record at home this season and are winners of nine out of their last ten games.
HSU boasts a per game scoring average of 71.5 and owns the league's second-best scoring defense at 63.5 points per game. Shooting percentages by the Reddies include a 42.4% mark from the floor, the league's third-best three-point clip at 35.3% and the GAC's and a 70.3% average from the free-throw line.
Defensively, Henderson State allows its opponents to shoot a league-low 25.4% from three-point range and 38.4% from the field which is the fourth-lowest mark in the GAC. The Reddies are averaging 38.8 rebounds, 12.6 assists, 8.9 steals and 2.2 blocked shots per contest and make 8.4 three-pointers per game.
Four of HSU's five starters average double-figure scoring and are all ranked in the top 25 of the league led by Pink Jones' 15.5 points and followed by Haleigh Henson (13.7 ppg), who averages a team-best 34.1 minutes per game, Torrie Thompson (11.1 ppg) and Hailey Estes (10.9). Jones and Thompson each own shooting percentages ranked in the top 14 of the GAC and both are shooting over 45%, but trail the team-leader in Bree Bossier who owns the league's third-highest shooting percentage at 50.6%. Bossier is also tied for tenth in the GAC in blocks per game with a 0.8 average.
Estes and Bossier each rank in the top 18 in rebounding in the GAC led by Estes' 9.2 rebounds per game which ranks second, while Jones and Henson are both ranked in the top 9 in assists per game with Jones leading the team at an average of 3.5. The duo is also ranked in the top 9 in steals per game with both players averaging 1.9 per game. Those stats put the pair in the top 12 of assist-to-turnover ratio as Jones ranks seventh at 1.3 and Henson places 11th at 0.8.
Lani Snowden owns the conference's best three-point shooting percentage at 50.0% and Thompson joins her in the top 15 of the category with a shooting clip of 36.4%.
COACH
The Reddies are coached by Jill Thomas, who is in her 5th season as head coach at Henderson State. Entering this season, Thomas has amassed a 45-66 record. In her previous four seasons, Thomas has led HSU to the Great American Conference Tournament three times and has coached five All-Conference performers and six Academic All-GAC selections. Prior to her arrival in Arkadelphia, Thomas spent four seasons as head coach, from 2009-2013, at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina. In her final year, Thomas was named the Conference Carolinas Coach of the Year after guiding the Lady Falcons to a 27-5 record and their first-ever NCAA Regional Tournament win.
LAST TIME OUT
Henderson State edged Southern Arkansas in the last meeting between the two schools as the Reddies claimed a 69-65 victory in Magnolia. In that loss,
Kimberly Crown logged her third 20-plus point performance of the season and grabbed ten rebounds in a double-double effort. The Lady Muleriders were plagued by being outscored 17-6 in the second quarter. Southern Arkansas went on to out-score Henderson State in the second half of that game, 42-39. SAU's last trip to Arkadelphia to face HSU resulted in an 81-70 defeat.
THE SERIES
Henderson State holds a 23-14 series lead against Southern Arkansas dating back to 2000. The Reddies are 13-4 against the Lady Muleriders inside the Duke Wells Center and have won the previous two meetings against SAU after suffering defeat in the five of the six meetings before last season.
