ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas outscored Ouachita Baptist 45-36 in the second half of play but were unable to come back from the 19-point deficit they entered halftime with in the Saturday afternoon matchup in Arkadelphia. Senior Kylie Warren recorded a career-high 25 points in the matchup, the most throughout her five seasons as a Mulerider.
Senior Mychala Linzy followed with 13 points that included 2 shots made from behind the arc at a 100% 3-point field goal percentage. Linzy went 5-5 on the night while recording four steals to lead the Mulerider team. Senior Diamond Morris led with five rebounds, five assists and one block while recording 11 points.
Once again, the Riders relied on their three point shooting, attempting 32 long shots versus Ouachita's 12 and led with their 37.5% 3-point field goal percentage.
Southern Arkansas got off to a slow start in the Saturday afternoon matchup, failing to put up any points against the Tigers until just over the five-minute mark in the first quarter. The Ouachita Tigers started things off with a 8-0 lead that included two layups each from Makayla Miller and Grayson Fairless. Junior Addy Tremie broke up the OUA streak with two made free throws followed by a three from senior Jessica Jones that served as the start of an 8-0 Mulerider run. Linzy was fouled on a made layup to clock the final 3 points of streak. Free throws from Warren and a layup from junior Braydyn Hill rounded out Mulerider scoring in the first quarter while the Tigers notched another 21 points to finish out the quarter 29-12 OUA.
The second quarter saw more of a fight from the Muleriders who just underscored the Tigers by two points. Second quarter scoring was led by Kylie Warren who put up eight points between three made three throws, a three and a jumpshot. Linzy, Tremie and freshman Kylie Minter aided the team with threes alongside Warren. The Tigers left the Muleriders with six unanswered points to finish off the quarter. The Tigers final run left them outscoring SAU 28-26 to enter halftime with a 57-38 lead over the Magnolia team.
Linzy started off the second half with a bang, making a shot from behind the arc just 13 seconds into the third quarter. Just as the Muleriders started the quarter with a three, they ended it just the same- freshman Brooklyn Brown forced a turnover before she passed the ball to freshman Riley Stanford who shot from behind the arc to solidify the dominant third quarter effort from SAU. The third quarter was just an extension of the comeback effort that was the second quarter as the Muleriders outscored the Tigers 25-19 to enter the final quarter down by just 13 points.
SAU was not going down without a fight. They started off the final quarter with an 8-0 run that included two threes from Warren and two made free throws from Morris to cut the Tiger lead to a measly five points. Warren made a layup to place her with eight points in just the first three minutes of play in the fourth quarter. The Muleriders outscored OUA 20-17 in the final quarter, but the 19-point deficit they encountered in the first half was too large to come back from.
Southern Arkansas will play next at home on Wednesday, December 14 against Arkansas Baptist College. Tip-off from Magnolia is set for 6:00 p.m.. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
