MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Muleriders brought the chaos we've all come to know and love to the W.T. in their Thurday night matchup against Henderson. Southern Arkansas sent the Reddies packing as they defeated the Arkadelphia team in their last home game of January. SAU gave fans a scare, falling behind a single point with 1:54 left to play before senior Diamond Morris hit a jumper and added a free throw to put the final nail in the Reddie coffin. Southern Arkansas improves to 7-8 on the season (3-6 GAC). Morris produced her 10th double digit scoring game of the season to total 188 points on the season and represent the highest scoring Mulerider thus far.
Senior Braydyn Hill sure stirred the pot, recording a team-leading four steals on the Muleriders' 17 forced turnovers. Sisi Reese made sure to add to the chaos, producing three steals herself.
The Muleriders recorded their second fewest made threes of the season, second only to their December 1 game against Henderson, and attempted their fewest of the year. For the first time in a game this season the Muleriders produced less threes than their competitor, making seven versus Henderson's nine. Mulerider three-point shooting was led by Morris and senior Mychala Linzy who recorded two each. Linzy moves to 39 made threes on the season, a figure that ranks second in the conference at 2.8 per game.
Morris both began and concluded game scoring as she started play off with a made layup only 15 seconds into play. It was obvious that neither team came to play as the GAC rivals bounced back and forth and both teams attempted to maintain the lead. The odds fell in the Muleriders' favor as a three from Morris tied things up in the first ten minutes of play for the last time before Linzy sunk a three to gain a lead they would hold the rest of the quarter.
The Muleriders outscored the Reddies 14-11 in the first quarter, but Henderson worked their way back in the second to finish out the first half tied 31-31 with the Riders. The Reddies started the second quarter off with a three from Gracie Raby to tie up play at 14 all. The lead proceeded to change six times in the next minute of play before the Reddies went on a 4-0 run to gain a lead the Muleriders would turn over soon after with their own 7-0 run. The half finished out with a continuous back and forth battle that ended with a tied score going into halftime.
Morris carried the Muleriders into the half with 13 points in the first 20 minutes of play in the Thursday afternoon matchup while junior Addy Tremie stood as the solo Mulerider to provide points from the bench for the SAU squad in the first half.
The Reddies opened the third quarter with a 10-3 run to earn a seven-point lead to which the Muleriders retaliated with 10-0 run that included three steals. With a regained five point lead the Muleriders turned the focus to maintaining it, and maintain it they did. With the interruption of a Reddie free throw the Muleriders resumed their scoring streak to gain a ten point lead that Henderson reduced to five points at the end of the quarter.
SAU had their work cut out for them in the fourth. The five point lead that they had gained was diminished to a single point as the Reddie defense held off the Muleriders as they went on a 4-0 run that was only stopped with a Hill free throw almost halfway through the quarter. A three from freshman Brooklin Brown helped give the Riders a six-point padding, but a 7-2 Reddie run completely reduced the lead to tie the game at 59-59. A Henderson made free throw allowed the Arkadelphia team to gain a lead with just under two minutes to play. Chaos ensued and a made jumper from Morris allowed the Riders to regain the lead, but with ample time for the Reddies to inflict damage. Both teams proceeded to miss layups and following the missed Mulerider shot, Sisi Reese forced a turnover to which the Reddies responded with a foul of Morris. Once again Reese saved the day, rebounding the ball after Morris missed her second free throw to not allow the Reddies another chance with the ball to finish the visiting team off 62-60.
Southern Arkansas will continue conference play on Saturday as they will take on the Lady Bison who defeated Ouachita 96-91 in Arkadelphia tonight. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in Searcy. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
