ALVA, Okla. – Senior guard Diamond Morris knocked down her lone three-point make of the game at the 6:04 mark of the fourth quarter to give Southern Arkansas a 49-47 lead and the Muleriders would not relinquish the lead using heavy action from the charity stripe in the final ten minutes to fend off Northwestern Oklahoma State 68-62 in a Great American Conference affair that saw nine lead changes on Thursday evening from inside Percefull Fieldhouse. The win snaps a four-game league losing streak by SAU to start the season and moves the squad's overall record to 5-6.

Morris delivered 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting with nine rebounds and four steals. Senior guard Mychala Linzy followed with a dozen points on 50% shooting from three-point range. Linzy's fourth and final trifecta of the evening followed Morris' go-ahead triple try and put Southern Arkansas up four at 52-48 with 5:29 remaining. Junior guard Addy Tremie also added 12 points which included a three-pointer just under the three-minute mark which put the Muleriders up 56-50.

Tremie's biggest points of the game came in the final 60 seconds as she twice knocked down a pair of free throws which sandwiched two free throw makes from freshman Kylie Minter with 45 seconds to play. Prior to the first pair of freebies by Tremie was an old fashioned three-point play conversion by Morris pushed the Muleriders up nine as the clock dipped under two minutes to play.

Through the first three quarters of play, the Muleriders were 3-for-8 from the free throw line, but won the game from the stripe in the final quarter making 11 of its 13 attempts to finish 14-of-21 for the game.

SAU led 30-26 at the half and 44-43 at the end of the third quarter. The Muleriders outscored the Rangers 25-5 in points off of turnovers which included a 9-0 difference in the fourth quarter. SAU finished +12 in second chance points and +15 in turnover margin and overcame a 29.3% shooting clip from the floor with a 25% success rate from three-point range.

Southern Arkansas heads south to Weatherford for a 1 p.m. tip-off with Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday, January 7. The Muleriders will look for just its third win over the Lady Bulldogs since the two programs began playing as conference opponents in 2011-12. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.