MAGNOLIA – The SAU Women's Basketball team closes out the regular season with their final round of games starting on Saturday. With the GAC Tournament set to tip off on March 1^st and an updated format to boot, the Muleriders are hoping to hit their winning stride heading into postseason play.

The updated tournament format sees the Eastern and Western Divisions cross-over in the bracket at the quarterfinal round. In the previous version, both division played within their division through the semifinals; after which, the two remaining teams faced for the GAC Championship.

The top two seeds from both division will get a first-round bye; they will then host the second round against the winner of the first-round from the opposite division.

As it currently stands, the Muleriders are in fifth place in the Eastern Division. Mathematically unable to get a top-two seed in the division, the focus is now on being able to host a first-round matchup, and with road games against fourth-place Arkansas-Monticello (1-3 in conference) and sixth-place Ouachita Baptist (0-3 in conference), there is a lot yet to be determined in the standings.

If the season ended today, the Muleriders would face Monticello in the first round of the tournament, with the winner then facing the top seed in the Western Division, which is currently #20 Southwestern Oklahoma State.

The Muleriders open their final round of regular season games on the road against Ouachita Baptist. This will be the first matchup between the two teams this season, with the Muleriders sweeping the Tigers in both of their matchups last season.

Despite the 0-3 record, the Tigers have kept all of their games to within 10 points, with two of those games being against Harding and Arkansas Tech, the top two teams in the division.

The Muleriders then finish their regular-season road schedule with a trip to Monticello. This will be the second game between the two rivals, with the Muleriders claiming victory in Magnolia all the way back on January 8^th.

As currently scheduled, the matchup will be only the second game for the Blossoms in the past month.

The Muleriders then close the regular season with a pair of home contests against the top two teams in the division, with #14 Arkansas Tech coming in on Thursday before Harding closes the season on Saturday. The Muleriders have yet to win a game this season against the Golden Suns and the Lady Bisons.

Individually, Diamond Morris is 10^th in the conference in scoring with 13.6 points per game; Jessica Jones is 7^th in the GAC with 2.1 made threes per game; and, Kylie Warren is second in the league from the free-throw line, shooting 92.9 percent from the charity stripe.