BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Chaos meet Bartlesville. Bartlesville meet Chaos. Most of several hundred individuals in attendance at Thursday night's second women's quarterfinal contest of the 2020 Great American Conference Basketball Championship Tournament likely wrote off eighth-seeded Southern Arkansas after the Muleriders entered the intermission down 47-17 to top-seeded Southeastern Oklahoma. However, the SAU Women employed an extremely gutsy effort in the final twenty minutes of play as they managed to cut the Savage Storm lead down to just seven points with 1:04 remaining, before SOSU survived the upset-minded Muleriders to win 84-75 inside Bruin Fieldhouse.
 
Behind the 30-point halftime lead for Southeastern Oklahoma (20-7, 16-6 GAC) was 11 more free throw makes in 13 more attempts than SAU and the Savage Storm scored 13 second chance points, while outrebounding the Muleriders 28-17. SOSU also knocked down six of their ten attempts from beyond-the-arc, while Southern Arkansas managed just one make in ten tries.
 
But in the second half, Southern Arkansas (17-12, 11-11 GAC) refused to go away quietly as they shot 46.5% (20-of-43) from the floor, including 50% (8-of-16) from three-point range with five of six attempts from beyond-the-arc bottomed in the fourth quarter. The Muleriders forced 14 SOSU turnovers which led to 26 points. Additionally, SAU scored 11 second chance points and forced the Savage Storm into a 1-of-8 clip from three-point range in the second half.
 
After being outscored 22-8 in the first quarter and 25-9 in the second quarter, the Muleriders turned the tables and outscored the Savage Storm by 21 points in the second half.
 
The Muleriders battled in the third quarter as they brought the SOSU lead down to 15 points at 61-45 with 1:07 left in the quarter. In the final ten minutes of play, the Savage Storm lead would blossom back to 21 points before the final push by Southern Arkansas. Down 20 with 6:18 to play, freshman Diamond Morris knocked down a triple try on the leftwing and thirty seconds later junior Doriana Brown nailed a trifecta from the right corner to cut the deficit to 71-57. Two free throws by sophomore Ariana Guinn brought the Muleriders to within twelve points of the lead at 71-59 with 4:55 remaining.
 
Following a pair of SOSU free throws, senior Alyssa Crase finished inside on a nice move to the basket, before Guinn hit a three-pointer from the top of the key as the Muleriders trailed by just nine points at 73-64 at the 3:37 mark of the fourth quarter.
 
Twice the Savage Storm would push the lead back to 11 and with 2:19 left in the game, the Muleriders employed one final surge as a pair of free throws each by sophomores Kylie Warren and Maggie Evans helped SAU pull to within seven points of the SOSU advantage in the final sixty seconds.
 
Four players scored in double figures on Thursday as Warren and Morris each scored 14 points, while Guinn added 11 points and junior All-GAC Honorable Mention Kisi Young finished with ten points. Guinn accounted for three of the team's nine assists and four players recorded two steals as part of the team's 11 on the night. Young and freshman Braydyn Hill each grabbed five rebounds.
 
The Muleriders finish the 2019-20 campaign with 17 wins; the third-most victories in a single season in the program's Division II Era. SAU produced a 14-win improvement from a season ago when the team managed just three wins in 28 games.