MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas University Women's Basketball team came into the second half of play this afternoon down two points against the visiting Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers, but in typical chaotic fashion turned the ballgame on its head to claim a 12-point victory. Southern Arkansas has done a nice job in consecutive victories over GAC opponents to improve their conference record to 6-9. Their 68-56 victory represents the fewest allowed points versus a GAC opponent this season.
Seniors Diamond Morris and Bradyn Hill each made six field goals to lead Mulerider scoring in the Saturday afternoon victory. Morris notched 16 points to record double digit scoring in seven of her last eight games. Teammate Hill followed with 15 points, her most since December 1 and tied her season-high steals with four. Both senior Mychala Linzy and junior Addy Tremie sunk three shots from behind the arc to combine for more than half the team's made threes. Tremie's made threes came at a shooting clip of 75%, her best of the season. With the addition of the handful from tonight, Linzy improved the single-season three-point record to 61 threes. Freshman Marlee Bright led the Muleriders with six assists that included three key helpers in the third that all produced three-pointers.
The Muleriders have turned the ball over fewer than ten times just twice this season, with one being inside the W.T. Watson Center this afternoon- SAU turned the ball over nine times while forcing 13. Southern Arkansas made double digit threes for the 15th time this season and held the opposing Rangers to just a single trey.
The first quarter saw the Muleriders outscore the Rangers 17-16. Southern Arkansas regained the lead for the first time in over eight minutes as Brown connected on a three with six seconds to play in the opening quarter. The Ranger defense edged SAU so that the only threes the Riders made in the opening quarter were the first and last baskets the team made; everything in between included free throws and layups.
The Muleriders opened up second quarter scoring with a Mychala Linzy three more that two minutes into play that made up for the two allowed Ranger layups and tied the game a 20 apiece. The tied score would represent the first of four that would occur in the following three minutes. The Rangers took the lead at 3:44 and didn't allow a Mulerider basket for the next three minutes while they extended their lead to four points. Morris wrapped up scoring for the half with a layup that allowed the Muleriders to breach the ten-point mark in the quarter and cut the Ranger lead to just two points entering the half.
The Mulerider offense would dominate and drop 26 points while their defense would hold NWOSU to a measly eight points. Morris closed the two-point gap immediately, sinking two free throws before the Rangers regaied their lead with a jumper. Morris and Linzy sandwiched a Ranger layup with two threes, with Linzy's three giving the Riders a two-point advantage. The team took the lead and proceeded to build on it the rest of the quarter, outscoring the Rangers 18-4 in the final seven minutes of the third quarter. In the span of three minutes, ranging from 6:09-2:50, Tremie sunk three threes that were all fed by Bright, including ones back-to-back that gave SAU a 13-point lead. Warren made the final of six Mulerider threes to close out scoring in the third quarter.
The Rangers started the fourth with four unanswered points before the teams' efforts began to match back up. Hill showed out in the final quarter, recording half of the Muleriders' 14 points herself. She made three consecutive baskets for the Muleriders that spanned from 7:08-4:52. SAU focused on their efforts in the paint, only making a single three in the final quarter while they made five layups. NWOSU finished the quarter the same way they had started it- with four unanswered points. Despite their final push, they were unable to come close to the Mulerider lead suffered defeat inside the W.T. for the second time in consecutive days.
Southern Arkansas will continue their season on February 3 in Durant, Oklahoma against Southeastern Oklahoma State.
