Magnolia, Ark. – Southern Arkansas Women's Basketball brought the chaos to the W.T. Watson Center in their dominant 104-44 win over Arlington Baptist in the Thursday night home opener. Muleriders saw impressive scoring efforts from all over the board, but team scoring was led by senior Mychala Linzy who scored a career-high 23 points in her second season as a Mulerider. Linzy's 23 points serve as the first time the senior has scored twenty or more points in a game. She also recorded a career-high six baskets from behind the arc, successfully connecting on 75% of her 3-point attempts.
Three other Muleriders reached double figures in scoring behind an overall team shooting clip of 39% with a three-point rate of 39%. Senior Kylie Warren, freshman Kylie Minter and freshman Riley Stanford all saw a ten-point night. Warren saw seven rebounds while Stanford produced five. You could call Stanford "Wendy", as she went 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
The Muleriders last saw triple digit scoring efforts in back-to-back games in December 2021 where they defeated Ouachita Baptist 102-99 December 11 before defeating Champion Christian College 115-65 on December 2-14.
The first quarter saw the start of the Mulerider lead they were to build on the rest of the game. Linzy gave the W.T. a glimpse of what she had in store, posting nine points in the first quarter alone with her first shot coming as a three pointer within the first minute of play. Minter saw five points herself produced from a shot from behind the arc and two free throws. The Muleriders finished the first ten minutes with a ten-point lead (24-14) over the Patriots.
The Muleriders took their ten-point lead and ran with it, letting up just nine points in the second quarter. Kylie Warren seemed to find her footing and made a layup and back-to-back threes to set the Mulerider lead at 20 points. Going into halftime, the Muleriders entered the locker room with a confidence boost fueled by a 24-point lead over the Patriots.
The third period saw back-to-back-to-back baskets from downtown twice throughout a 22-4 run. The Muleriders first nine-point scoring run was sparked by a long ball by junior Braydyn Hill who was tailed by two treys from Linzy. The Muleriders took a break from threes while sophomore Chloe Wilbanks made a layup before junior Addy Tremie, senior Jessica Jones and Linzy all shot threes with the only interruption coming in the form of a Patriots jump shot. Southern Arkansas's impressive run was just a piece of their 38-point quarter that left them with a 48-point lead over the Patriots. The numbers don't lie and the Muleriders offensive dominance in the third was backed by a shooting clip of 52% and three-point rate of 60%.
The final quarter saw some grit from both teams that came with a side of chaos. Both teams were determined to hold the other to their lowest score of the game, and both succeeded. Southern Arkansas scored a final 19 points in the fourth and Arlington Baptist saw just seven points. Freshman Brooklin Brown and Stanford had the most success against the Patriots defense in the final ten minutes, both posting five points with both shooting for three. The Muleriders concluded the Thursday night effort with a 60-point lead over the Patriots to serve as the largest margin of victory since a 98-30 win over Crowleys Ridge College on December 30, 2017.
The Muleriders recorded a season high 31 offensive rebounds and 34 defensive rebounds. The Muleriders only saw 30 or more offensive rebounds twice last season and 30 or more on the defensive side four time in 2021-22. Southern Arkansas forced a season-high 43 turnovers which stands as the most since a January 13 matchup against Arkansas Monticello earlier this year.
The Mulerider improve to 2-1 on the season and will look to increase their winning record in their game on Monday against the University of Texas at Tyler in the W.T. Watson Center. Tip-off from Magnolia is set for 5:00 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
