MAGNOLIA, Ark. – A big opportunity has presented itself for fourth-year head coach Adam Collins' Muleriders this weekend in the Sooner State. Southern Arkansas, which holds a 4-8 mark in Great American Conference play entering the final ten games of the regular season, is currently 11^th in the league standings, but a tight race has the team just three games back of third with February looming.
 
The Muleriders (9-9, 4-8) are just 2-6 since the beginning of the New Year and will have to make that capable climb up the league standings with just three home games remaining on the docket.
 
Southern Arkansas' high octane style dubbed chaos has been effective this season as the Collins' pesky bunch ranks fourth in the country in steals with 248 and ninth in steals per game at 13.8. Additionally, the defensive effort has forced the seventh-most turnovers in the country at 24.6 per game and the team's turnover margin of +5.61 ranks 22^nd nationally.
 
On the other end of the court the Muleriders are just as successful as the group carries the nation's second-highest scoring offense at 86.6 ppg across state lines. A byproduct of the style of play, Southern Arkansas ranks in the top 10 nationally in rebounds (6^th) with 802 and in rebounds per game (10^th) at 44.5. The team's near 20 offensive rebounds per game (19.9) ranks second in Division II.
 
SAU's 290 successful free throws this season are the fifth-most in the country and its 428 attempts rank fourth, while the team's effort from three-point range is also a top-five result statistically. The Muleriders rank second in DII in three-point attempts with 532, third in three-point makes with 170 and fourth in three-point makes per game at 9.4.
 
Senior forward Kisi Young, who has played and started all 18 games for Collins this season, leads the team in scoring at 14.6 ppg behind a league-best field goal percentage of 54.4%. Two other players follow in double-figure scoring with junior guard Diamond Morris averaging 11.3 ppg and junior guard Ariana Guinn at 10.2 ppg. Five players have knocked down at least 20 attempts from three-point range with junior guard Jessica Jones' 31 makes leading the way.
 
Young has grabbed a team-leading 130 rebounds at 7.2 per game and has done a particularly nice job on the offensive glass with 69 such boards at an average of 3.4 per game. Distribution has been key as seven players have recorded at least 20 assists led by Young's 38 and closely followed by Guinn's 37 and junior guard Kenzie Ezekiel's 35.
 
Nine players have registered 15+ steals this season led by Ezekiel's 33, while junior guard Kylie Warren's 11 blocks are a team-best. Warren is also one of three players, joined Ezekiel and junior guard Mychala Linzy, averaging just under ten points per game.
 
RV/RV Southwestern Oklahoma (15-4, 9-2 GAC)
Thursday, January 27 | 5:30 p.m. (PCEC | Weatherford, Oklahoma)
 
The Bulldogs enter the weekend holding the top spot in the league standings. SWOSU suffered a road loss at Harding and has lost two of its past three after having won 12-straight games following a 1-2 start to the season.
 
Southwestern Oklahoma got the better of the Muleriders last time out in a contest played in Magnolia on New Year's Day. SWOSU won 85-72 as they held off a surging SAU squad that had cut its deficit to just four at 66-62 with 7:49 left in the fourth quarter. SAU will look to do something it's never done in the program's GAC Era: win in Weatherford as the Muleriders are 0-9 since the league's first season of 2011-12.
 
The Bulldogs are highlighted by an effort on the offensive end of the floor that leads the nation in three-point field goals attempted (543) and three-point field goals made (193). SWOSU ranks third nationally in assists (330), sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.30) and seventh in assists per game (17.4). Additionally the Bulldogs rank 13^th in rebounding and boast the fifth-highest scoring offense in the country averaging 82.5 ppg.
 
Makyra Tramble leads the nationally-prevalent Bulldogs with the 11^th-best per game scoring effort in the country at 21.1 ppg. She ranks second nationally in field goals attempted (309) and made (141) and ranks in the top 30 in assists (12^th | 89), free throws attempted (29^th | 95), free throws made (22^nd | 75), steals (28^th | 44), three-point field goals attempted (19^th | 125) and three-point field goals made (26^th | 45).
 
Northwestern Oklahoma (10-8, 6-6 GAC)
Saturday, January 29 | 1 p.m. (Percefull Fieldhouse | Alva, Oklahoma)
 
The Rangers are in a three-way tied for sixth-place entering this weekend's action. NWOSU has lost its last three games which follows a seven-game winning streak with five of those games played at home.
 
Northwestern Oklahoma closed out 2021 with a win over Southern Arkansas on December 30 in Magnolia. NWOSU won 73-66 in a contest that saw seven lead changes and three tied scores in the first half, while the Muleriders were unable to complete the comeback after being down 14 points to start the fourth quarter. SAU is 5-3 on the road in Alva since NWOSU joined the league for the 2012-13 season.
 
The Rangers lead the league in rebound margin and rank 13^th nationally at 9.6 and the team's 758 rebounds this season are a top 20 statistic in Division II as well. NWOSU has been solid from the charity stripe nailing the 14^th-most freebies in the country this season at 267. Northwestern Oklahoma enters the final weekend of the month averaging 71.7 points per game.
 
Bailey Brown paces the Rangers with a scoring average of 17.9 ppg. She is one of the country's top free throw shooters with an 88.6% success rate behind the fifth-most makes in Division II at 93. Her 111 field goals made this season rank in the top 40 nationally as do Carly Craig's 73 assists.
 
Follow Live
Mulerider fans can follow this weekend's action through live coverage links available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.