MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Mathematically still in the hunt to make the Great American Conference Tournament, the Southern Arkansas University women's basketball team will need to have a big weekend as they are set to make their final road swing of the season into Oklahoma. The Muleriders 11-12 (6-11 GAC) will take on Southern Nazarene University on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. followed by a meeting with Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
SAU currently sits in 10
th place in the GAC conference standings, and will need to slide their way into 8
th place or better if they want a bid to the conference tournament. The Muleriders took down OBU 76-69 earlier this year in their first, and fell to SNU 79-72.
The Muleriders, carried by
Kisi Young (13.5 ppg) and
Diamond Morris (11.7 ppg), hold the nation's No. 3 spot in points per game with 81.9. SAU has four more players that average 8.5 ppg or better behind Young and Morris.
Ariana Guinn (9.9 ppg),
Kylie Warren (9.2 ppg),
Mychala Linzy (8.8 ppg), and
Kenzie Ezekiel (8.6 ppg) round out the team's top scorers.
Guinn leads the team with 45 assists on the season and is one of five players with 30+ assists. Young has dished out 44 helpers, followed by Morris (39), Ezekiel (37), Bradyn Hill (34) and Warren (30).
Young leads the Muleriders in rebounds with 153 on the year (87 defense, 66 offense) to average 7.0 per game.
Kylie Warren has done a nice job of clearing the glass has she ranks second on the team with 103 rebounds (69 defense, 34 offense).
SNU comes into Thursday night's contest with a 17-8 (12-6 GAC) record. The Crimson Storm average 66.0 points per game and have help their opponent to 57.2 points per game. SNU is led by two double-digit scorers in Cassandra Awatt (13.8 ppg) and Jaycee Soap (11.2 ppg). Cassandra also leads the team in rebounds per game with 84. The Crimson storm have won nine of their last 10 games.
OBU is holding onto a 12-12 (8-10 GAC) record, and will take on Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday evening, before hosting SAU on Saturday afternoon. The Bison are currently averaging 68.6 points per game while giving up 67.0 points. OBU has been led by Kalifa Ford (17.0 ppg) and Mallory Lockhart (11.4 ppg). Kalifa leds OBU on boards with 9.0 per game.
You can find live links to both contests
here.
