MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas Women's Basketball team will head to the Sooner state for their final Oklahoma road stint of the regular season. The Muleriders will face the SOSU Savage Storm and ECU Tigers for the second time this season, this time on their home courts. Southern Arkansas and Southeastern will tipoff at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 9 before making a final stop in Ada on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
Southern Arkansas enters the week ranked smack dab in the middle of conference standings. The number six GAC team shares the same record (6-9) as Ouachita, UAM and SWOSU. Southeastern finds themselves last in the conference with their record they improved to 3-12 following a win over Arkansas Tech this previous Saturday after losing eight straight games. East Central ranks just above SOSU with a 4-11 record after suffering two losses last week to Arkansas Tech and Harding.
Southern Arkansas wields the top three-point shooter in the conference. Senior guard Mychala Linzy has combined for 19 made threes in the Muleriders' last four games and shot .479 during that period. The Mississippi native sits at the top of the GAC with her 43.9% three-point percentage, 61 made baskets and average 3.05 per game and additionally ranks in the top-15 in the nation in all three figures. She heads the nation's number one team in three pointers per game. SAU's average 13.0 towers over the second-best team who is averaging 11.0.
The Muleriders made their second-most threes of the season (21) against SOSU earlier this season and capitalized on their success from three to record a 15-point win. In the January matchup, Linzy led three Muleriders who scored double digits and recorded five threes to lead six additional Muleriders that recorded two or more.
Southeastern posts the conference's worst scoring offense, averaging 57.4 points per game while the Muleriders are averaging 81.1 ppg to lead the GAC. On the other end, SAU has the conference's worst scoring defense, allowing an average 74.4 points per game. While both teams trail in either category, SAU's +6.7 scoring margin ranks third and SOSU's -6.7 margin ranks last. The Savage Storm is posting a -1.35 turnover margin, stemming from their average 15.8 turnovers and 14.4 opponent turnovers.
Southeastern's Caitlin Kobiske ranks sixth in the conference with her 48.4% field goal percentage. Teammate Briley Moon ranks sixth with a 38.8% three-point fg% and averages 2.1 threes per game. Kobiske and Moon led Savage Storm scoring in the January game in Magnolia. Kobiske posted 24 points from seven made field goals and ten free throws while Moon notched 21 points with five made threes. Moon also recorded an impressive 16 rebounds, a figure that is tied for the most by a single person in GAC play.
East Central beat the Muleriders by a slim three-point margin earlies this season to earn their first GAC victory of the season. Freshman Brooklin Brown led Mulerider scoring with 15 points while two other Muleriders posted double digit scoring figures. In the matchup five Tigers dipped into double digits including Southeastern's leading scorer Mackenzie Crusoe who recorded a season-high 23 points.
Crusoe's scoring average ranks just above the Muleriders' leading scorer, senior Diamond Morris with both averaging 13.2 points per game. Crusoe's 36.7% three point field goal percentage ranks just below senior Jessica Jones' 36.8%. ECU's Emily Wilson ranks at the top alongside Linzy with a 47.4% shooting clip from three.
ECU is averaging 64.5 points per game while allowing 70.1 for a scoring margin of -5.6. SAU should be able to benefit from the Tigers being the worst team in the conference when it comes to defending from three, as they are allowing teams to shoot at a conference trailing 34.7% from behind the arc. East Central's 37.4 team field goal percentage also trails the conference as does their combined team rebounds. While they struggle in those departments, the Tigers rank behind the Riders in third place in the GAC with their +3.05 turnover margin.
