By: Jacob Pumphrey
|
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
LADY MULERIDERS
7-14 (6-9 GAC)
|
#10 SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
LADY BULLDOGS
20-1 (15-0 GAC)
|
NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
LADY RANGERS
9-12 (5-10 GAC)
|
|
GAME NOTES (PDF)
LADY MULERIDER NEWS AND NOTES
Southern Arkansas carries a their longest win streak of the season which stands at three games entering the second weekend of February. The Lady Muleriders are 6-5 in 2018 after suffering through a 1-9 start during the 2017 portion of the campaign. Currently 7-14 overall with a 6-9 mark in Great American Conference play, Southern Arkansas greatly improved their postseason chances last weekend in the Sooner State as a pair of one possession wins over Southeastern Oklahoma and East Central marked just the second time that SAU swept a road GAC weekend doubleheader in the seven-year history of the league. With seven games to play before the conference postseason party in Bartlesville, the Lady Muleriders currently sit in a three-way tie for seventh-place in the league standings and are just one-game back of a potential four-way tie for fourth place.
SAU faces a daunting task on Thursday night inside the W.T. Watson Center as No. 10 Southwestern Oklahoma, riding a 12-game win streak, comes to Magnolia unbeaten in GAC play. Tip-off with the Lady Bulldogs is set for 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Lady Muleriders look for the season sweep of Northwestern Oklahoma in a league tilt slated for a 1 p.m. tip-off.
For the season, Southern Arkansas is averaging 66.0 points per game (9th), while allowing 68.8 points per game (7th) to its opponents. From the floor, SAU owns a team shooting percentage of 39.5% and a mark of 71.4% from the free throw stripe. The Lady Muleriders' field goal percentage defense is 38.7% including an impressive 33.8% three-point percentage defense which is the fifth-lowest average in the league. For the second weekend in a row, the Lady Muleriders will have a chance to showcase that perimeter security as both Southwestern Oklahoma (38.1%) and Northwestern Oklahoma (33.6%) each average over 7.5 three-point makes per game with SWOSU leading the league in three-point percentage.
The Lady Muleriders enter the final three weeks of regular season play averaging 37.3 rebounds per game, 4.1 blocked shots per game, 11.6 assists per game and 9.7 steals per game. The team's per game averages in blocked shots and steals each rank in the top four in the GAC with the steals per game average placing second. In Pacheco's previous two seasons as head coach, the Lady Muleriders have finished the season with top three marks in steals per game, including owning the league's best per game average last season at 8.5.
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 eleven games, is averaging 20.8 points per game and is shooting 43% (74-of-172) from the floor, including a 39.7% (31-of-78) mark from beyond-the-arc. In that time, the Dubach, Louisiana, native has also collected 45 rebounds, 18 steals, 12 assists and nine blocks.
Key has registered three-games of 30 or more points this season including 34 points in her last trip to the court which included a late runner to beat East Central on the road. For her efforts last weekend,
Key was named the Great American Conference's Player of the Week.
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 32.7 for the season. Key is currently leading the team in scoring with 16.1 points per game, which ranks 4th in the GAC.
Crown Jewel
Sophomore forward
Kimberly Crown has been as equally impressive in SAU's eleven games of 2018 as the Greenland, Arkansas, native is averaging 14.5 points and 8.8 rebounds in that timespan. In 2018, Crown is shooting over 52.7% (58-of-110) from the floor and over 77% (44-of-57) from the free-throw line, while adding ten blocks, eleven steals and eight assists.
Crown's season scoring average of 14.1 points is second on the team and ranks 11th in the GAC, while her season rebounding average of 8.3 ranks sixth in the league. Her 50.3% shooting from the floor is currently fourth in the GAC and her 75.0% shooting clip from the charity stripe is the second-leading free throw clip for a team that owns a 71.4% free throw mark which stands as the sixth-best mark in the league this season.
Crown's 1.4 blocked shots per game average is currently fifth. This season, Crown has recorded eight games with two or more blocks including a career-high six blocks vs. Crowley's Ridge. The sophomore has scored in double-figures 14 times this season, including four games with 20-plus points and has added eight games with ten or more rebounds, including a career-high 14 boards in an overtime loss vs. Oklahoma Baptist. Crown has produced eight double-doubles and led the team in scoring eight times and in rebounding a 14 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 eleven games in 2018, have combined for 69 rebounds, 89 assists and 55 steals, while averaging a collective 17.5 points per game led by McWilliams' 12.5 points.
McWilliams' per game scoring average is a Top-25 mark in the GAC. In addition, McWilliams has scored in double figures in nine of the eleven games in 2018. Her 2.6 steals per game place her second in the league in the category and help Southern Arkansas own the second-best steals per game mark in the GAC at 9.7
This season, Djedjemel is averaging 3.0 assists per game and 1.8 steals per game. Her assists per game average ranks 14th in the GAC and her steals per game mark ranks 8th.
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 SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE
Southwestern Oklahoma comes to Magnolia ranked as the No. 10 in the nation by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. The Lady Bulldogs are unbeaten in Great American Conference play at 15-0, have clinched a spot in the upcoming league tournament, and have won a dozen straight games. The team's only loss this season was a 30-point setback at No. 2 Lubbock Christian in early December.
It is the fifth time in nine seasons that Southwestern Oklahoma State has won 20 or more games and they have done so behind an explosive and balanced offensive attack. The Lady Bulldogs will carry the league's top scoring offense into the W.T. Watson Center on Thursday night as the team averages 85.3 points per game.
SWOSU owns the league's second-best scoring margin at 10.9. That offensive power undoubtedly comes from three of the best shooting percentages in the league. The Lady Bulldogs shoot 43.6% (2nd - GAC) from the floor, 38.1% (1st - GAC) from beyond-the-arc, and 75.6% from the free throw line (4th - GAC). Southwestern's 9.3 makes per game from range are tops in the conference.
Defensively, SWOSU allows 74.4 points per game (10th - GAC), while opponents shoot 39.1% (6th - GAC) from the floor against the Lady Bulldogs and 35.0% (9th - GAC) from three-point range. They allow the third-most rebounds at 40.5 per game, but grab the most defensive rebounds in the league averaging 30.2 defensive boards per contest.
SWOSU grabs the second-most rebounds per game at 42.5 ( 2 rebounding margin) and ranks in the top three in league in blocked shots (4.6 - 2nd) and assists (14.5 - 2nd). The Lady Bulldogs also average 8.0 steals per game (6th - GAC) and rank in the top three of the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.1 (2nd - GAC) and in turnover margin at 2.57 (3rd - GAC).
The Lady Bulldog offense is triggered by a trio of shooters led by the league's top scorer in Hailey Tucker who averages 20.6 points per game. Hayden Priddy (14.7 ppg) and Tyra Aska (13.9 ppg) rank eighth and twelfth in the league in scoring, respectively. Bethany Franks rounds out double-figure scoring for SWOSU averaging 10.4 ppg, which ranks 25th in the GAC. Franks is the GAC's top rebounder averaging 9.2 rebounds per game, while Tucker ranks eighth grabbing 7.5 rebounds per game.
Franks, one of the unheralded Lady Bulldogs, owns the GAC's fifth-highest shooting percentage at 50.0% with Aska's shooting clip of 45.7% ranking 14th.
Priddy's 4.7 assists per game are the third-most in the GAC and Aska follows in ninth averaging 3.3 assists per game. From the charity stripe, Priddy is hitting 89.4% (3rd - GAC) of her shots, while Tucker is making 81.6% (8th - GAC) of her attempts. Aska and Tucker both rank in the top ten of steals per game as the two players combine for almost four takeaways per game.
The league's hottest shooting team from three-point range, three players rank in the top 12 of three-point percentage with Priddy boasting a team-best 44.0% (3rd - GAC) shooting from deep. Savannah Gray (39.7%) and Tucker (37.7%) are threats from beyond-the-arc. Priddy and Tucker have combined to sink 92 three-point shots this season and collectively average just under 4.5 made three-pointers per game.
Tucker, Priddy and Nicole Middleton all rank in the top 11 in the league in blocked shots per game, with Tucker's average of 2.0 leading the team. Priddy boasts the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the GAC at 1.7 and Aska ranks 11th at 1.3.
The trio of Tucker, Priddy and Aska rarely leave the court as all three rank in the top four of the league in minutes played led by Tucker's league-best 36.5 minutes per game.
COACH
Kelsi Musick is in her ninth season at the helm of the Southwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball program. Musick has tallied a 150-102 career record and is responsible for leading the Lady Bulldogs to a pair of NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances and five 20-win seasons, including a 20-10 record a year ago. A two-time Great American Conference Coach of the Year, Musick has totaled 101 GAC wins entering the weekend, averaging ten league victories a season.
THE SERIES
SWOSU has dominated the series between the two programs since both schools became charter members of the Great American Conference in 2011. The Lady Bulldogs hold an 12-1 advantage in the series with the lone Southern Arkansas victory coming on February 14, 2015 in Magnolia as the Lady Muleriders claimed a five-point win in a low-scoring affair, 58-53.
LAST TIME OUT | SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA 98, SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 60 | BOX SCORE | RECAP
Behind a 19-2 run in the opening ten minutes, Southwestern Oklahoma jumped out to a 25-8 lead after one quarter of play and led 49-23 at halftime, before cruising to a 98-60 win inside the Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
Olivia McWilliams led Southern Arkansas with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting and added five rebounds, five steals and an assist. McWilliams was also 5-of-6 from the free throw line, accounting for almost half of SAU's trips to the charity stripe on Saturday.
The Lady Muleriders shot a collective 85.7% from the line, but only manufactured 14 attempts.
Sue Key followed with 16 points and three steals and
Kimberly Crown chipped in with a dozen points and six rebounds.
Brette Wacha grabbed a team-high eight boards and finished with two blocks and an assist. SWOSU outrebounded Southern Arkansas 53 to 32 and outscored the Lady Muleriders in the paint 44-18. SAU turned the basketball over just nine times in the game.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE
Northwestern Oklahoma enters the weekend having dropped four straight games and is currently tied for tenth in the league standings at 5-10. The Lady Muleriders have an opportunity to sweep a league opponent for the first time this season after toppling the Lady Rangers in early January for their first league win. NWOSU has won just three games away from Percefull Fieldhouse and are winless in the Natural State this season.
The Lady Rangers are averaging the fourth-most points per game this season at 71.6, but are allowing opponents to score the second-most points in the GAC at 75.0. Northwestern Oklahoma owns shooting percentages of 70.7% from the free throw line (7th - GAC), 39.6% from the floor (8th - GAC) and 33.6% from three-point range (6th - GAC). Defensively, the Lady Rangers allow opponents to shoot 42.3% (10th - GAC) from the floor and 34.3% (7th - GAC) from deep.
Through 21 games, Northwestern Oklahoma's per game averages include 38.2 rebounds (13.5 offensive boards per game - 2nd GAC), 13.3 assists, 7.5 steals, and 3.0 blocked shots. The Lady Rangers own one of seven positive turnover margins in the league ( 0.14) and rank fifth in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 0.8. Southern Arkansas will again face off against one of the best perimeter shooting teams as Northwestern Oklahoma sinks an average of 7.5 threes per game (5th - GAC).
Jade Jones is the leading scorer for Northwestern Oklahoma averaging the league's ninth-most points per game at 14.2 per contest. Kinsey Neiderer follows Jones with 10.0 points per game. Two Lady Rangers rank in the top 20 of the GAC in rebounding led by Selena McDonald's 6.9 rebounds per game (10th). Bailey Brown follows with 5.2 rebounds per game (19th).
McDonald is the league's top shooter at 70.9% and she owns two more top five marks in the league including blocked shots per game (1.5 - 4th) and offensive rebounds per game (3.0 - 4th).
Jones owns the league's best assists per game average at 5.6 and her 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks fifth. Jones is one of the more durable players in the league averaging the fifth-most minutes per game this season at 33.9.
Jakeria Otay leads the team with 1.6 steals per game. That average ranks 13th in the GAC. Neiderer's 1.8 three-point makes per game ranks 14th in the GAC.
COACH
Tasha Diesselhorst is in her second season as head coach of the Northwestern Oklahoma State women's basketball program and has NWOSU at 9-12 overall and 5-10 in the GAC entering this weekend. Diesselhorst and the Lady Rangers posted a 9-19 record overall in 2016-17 and finished with an 8-14 mark in league play; just narrowly missing out on the final spot in the GAC Tournament. Before coming to Alva, Diesselhorst enjoyed a successful career in the high school ranks at Oklahoma Class A Pond Creek-Hunter, where she collected a 187-63 record through nine seasons that included four state tournament appearances, a state runner-up finish in 2016, and the Class A state title in 2014.
THE SERIES
Since Northwestern Oklahoma joined the Great American Conference in 2012, the Lady Muleriders lead 6-5 with their most recent come-from-behind win in early January giving them the series advantage. The 2014-15 season stands as the only season in which one of the programs did not sweep the other. That year, the Lady Rangers won in Magnolia and Southern Arkansas grabbed a nine-point win in Alva. SAU recorded season sweeps of the Lady Rangers in 2013-14 and 2015-16, while NWOSU won both games of the season in 2012-13 and 2016-17.
LAST TIME OUT | SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 63, NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA 59 | BOX SCORE | RECAP
A huge second half surge allowed the Lady Muleriders to rally back from an 18-point deficit at the intermission and overtake Northwestern Oklahoma on the road, 63-59. The Lady Muleriders trailed 33-15 at the break, but totaled 48 second-half points, while allowing just 16 points to the Lady Rangers.
In the game's final 10 minutes of action, the Lady Muleriders made an exciting comeback on a 13-0 run that saw them take a 58-56 lead with 2:16 left to play.
Anna Djedjemel served as the offensive catalyst late for the Lady Muleriders as the senior banked a trio of 3-point shots during the run, including the bucket that put SAU ahead. After NWOSU hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 58,
Sue Key scored inside with just under a minute to play to give Southern Arkansas the lead. Key finished with a team-high 15 points, Djedjemel added 14 points and
Kimberly Crown recorded a double-double with ten points and a dozen rebounds.
