MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas was just one point shy of a massive comeback from a 15 point deficit in the Saturday afternoon action against Arkansas Tech. Senior Jessica Jones put up an impressive 23 points, the second most of her career, to lead team scoring in the 89-87 loss. SAU falls to 3-6 overall and has yet to record a conference win thus far.
Seniors Mychala Linzy (17) and Kylie Warren (15) recorded double digit figures as well with both recording their fourth double digit scoring games of the season. All three Muleriders relied heavily on their shots from three with Jones making 7 from behind the arc while Linzy made five and Warren made four.
Southern Arkansas made 22 shots from three while Tech only made three at shooting clip of 20%. SAU attempted the most long shots of their season at 58 and recorded their second-best three-point field goal percentage at 37.9%. Tech saw 14 points from the free throw line and drastically topped the Muleriders' 42.9% free throw percentage with their own 87.5%. SAU forced 16 turnovers, and despite forcing almost double Arkansas Tech's nine, recorded their fewest of the season. Once again, the Muleriders saw large numbers from the bench, posting 37 points.
Jones had quite a productive first quarter for Southern Arkansas. The Mulerider produced 12 points in the first ten minutes, with all her points coming in the form of threes. The senior sunk her fourth three in just over four minutes to give the Muleriders a seven point lead that Warren and senior Diamond Morris went on to extend in the final minute of first quarter play. The Riders held ATU to 19 points while producing 27 of their own and entered second quarter play with an eight-point lead, their largest of the first quarter.
Warren started second quarter scoring with a bang, making a three to once again extend the Mulerider lead and give the Magnolia team an 11-point advantage. Southern Arkansas fell into a funk following Warren's basket. Tech went on a 12-0 run to gain the lead for the first time in just under ten minutes. The Muleriders put up 16 points in the second versus Tech's 29. Linzy and Warren accounted for 75% of the second quarter points, both producing six points. Both Muleriders produced their six points from a couple of threes each. Southern Arkansas's lack of offensive production in comparison to the first quarter landed them with a five-point disadvantage leading into the second half of play.
Tech extended their lead right off the bat in the second half, making a layup 18 seconds into play. Arkansas Tech led by as much as 14 points in the third, but standout efforts from Linzy and junior Addy Tremie helped stop the Golden Suns from running away too far with the lead. ATU doubled the lead they entered the half with and once again held Southern Arkansas to 16 points.
The Muleriders rallied in the fourth quarter putting up 28 points to come within one point of the Golden Suns with 18 seconds to go. The Muleriders needed a three in the final eight seconds to win it, but were unable to come through with the victory. They entered the final quarter down ten points and found themselves down 15 within the first minute of the fourth following two made Tech layups and a free throw. SAU responded with a 15-4 run where Jones (2), Linzy, Tremie and Kylie Minter all sunk threes to cut the ATU lead to five points with just over five minutes to play. The Muleriders proceeded to make three more threes to fall right at the heels of the Golden Suns at 83-84. The only points the Muleriders produced that weren't in the form of threes were layups from Morris and Jones in the final minute of play. Jones's layup once again put the Muleriders just a solo point behind Tech, but an unanswered free throw from the Golden Suns wrapped up the game.
The Mulerider Women's Basketball team will wrap up the 2022 portion of their season at home on Monday versus the University of the Ozarks. Tip-off from the W.T. is set for 1:00 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
