TYLER, Texas – The Muleriders ventured down in the heart of Texas as they battled it out with the Patriots of the University of Texas at Tyler on Tuesday inside the Louise Herrington Patriot Center. Southern Arkansas looked to bounce back against the Patriots after having lost to them the last couple seasons while also just receiving its third consecutive loss of the season following Sunday. UT-Tyler unfortunately adds to the streak after another tight matchup between the Patriots and the Muleriders ending in a 67-59 final score against one of the nation's 2022-23 Elite Eight teams. SAU now falls to 6-4 on the campaign and hold a 1-3 conference record.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Once more, senior Diamond Morris led Southern Arkansas in scoring as well as three-points made. The Natural State native scored 17 points making it her fourth consecutive double-digit scoring ballgame. She earned her point total after knocking down half of her three-point attempts, making three from beyond the arc. Addy Tremie hung right with Morris in scoring as she put up 15 points with most of her buckets coming from under range. Tremie was also responsible for leading the Muleriders in steals after snatching three of the statistic. Jessica Clemons took care of her business in the paint with eight rebounds in the contest.
 
THE GAME
The first period between these two non-conference opponents looked to have the making of a high-scoring affair as each squad recorded 20+ points after one quarter. Southern Arkansas went into the second period down 20-25, but would rebound from this deficit by outscoring the Patriots 16-10 in the second thanks to its defensive play and going into halftime up 36-35. The third period is where UT-Tyler turned its offense back up with a 20-10 third quarter series over the Muleriders. The fourth went in favor of the 'Riders with a 13-12 scoring run, but was not enough to cut down UTT's third quarter lead stretch. With that, the final score in the third matchup against UT-Tyler in the last three years, went in the Patriots favor.
 
NEXT GAME
Mulerider Basketball is now going into the Christmas break, but will be back soon after the New Year with a Great American Conference Matchup against the Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs inside the W.T. Watson Center on January 4 (Thursday). The following Saturday (Jan. 6), Southern Arkansas will continue with Sooner State play as they take on Northwestern Oklahoma State in Magnolia once more.
 
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