MAGNOLIA, Ark. - This time of year, it doesn't matter how you got there. It just matters that you made it. (8) Southern Arkansas Women's Basketball is back dancing as the Muleriders, under fifth-year head coach Adam Collins, return to the Great American Conference Tournament and are set for action as SAU takes on GAC regular season champion (1) Southern Nazarene in the opening round on Thursday, March 2. Tip-off from inside Shawnee, Oklahoma's FireLake Arena is set for 5:45 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.

Previous Meetings
1/28 | Southern Nazarene 75, Southern Arkansas 74 | Box Score
2/16 | Southern Nazarene 92, Southern Arkansas 71 | Box Score

The Muleriders (12-16, 8-14 GAC) and the Crimson Storm (24-4, 21-1 GAC) meet for the third time this season. In two games against SNU, senior guard Jessica Jones is averaging 14.5 ppg on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor with a 72.7% success rate from three-point range behind a team-leading eight trifectas. Freshman guard Brooklin Brown and senior guard Kylie Warren are both averaging 10 ppg against the Crimson Storm.

In the first meeting, Southern Arkansas doubled up the Crimson Storm in the third quarter outscoring the host 30-15 to take a 64-55 lead into the final ten minutes of play. SNU rallied and held SAU to just ten fourth quarter points and used a late and-1 bucket to eke out a 75-74 win; the Crimson Storm's closest GAC game of the season.

In Magnolia, the contest was played at MHS's Panther Arena and the Crimson Storm added nine points to a 14-point halftime lead to cruise to a 91-72 win behind six players in double-figure scoring.

SAU shot 47% (55-117) from the floor combined in its first two meetings with SNU. From beyond-the-arc, the Muleriders made ten more shots in 16 more attempts than the Crimson Storm. SNU combined for +6 in rebounding, attempted two dozen more free throw attempts than the Muleriders and committed nine less turnovers over eight quarters of play.

Five Crimson Storm players are averaging 13+ ppg against the Muleriders this season. Hannah Giddey leads with 18.5 and 7.5 rebounds on 64.3% shooting. Cassandra Awatt follows with 15.5 ppg and 6.5 rebounds.

SAU in the GAC Tournament (6th appearance; 1-5)
2020-21 | L, 84-85 at (4) Ouachita
2019-20 | L, 75-84 vs. (1) Southeastern Oklahoma
2015-16 | L, 85-99 vs. (1) Arkansas Tech
2015-16 | W, 80-71 vs. (5) Henderson State
2014-15 | L, 48-80 vs. (1) Harding
2013-14 | L, 57-67 vs. (2) East Central

#CHAOS is the M.O.
A relentless effort on the defensive end of the floor, volume shooting from the perimeter and quality ball movement are just a few staples of Southern Arkansas' #CHAOS. The national statistical rankings prove it.

Southern Arkansas enters postseason play as the country's top three-point shooting team in attempts and makes per game. SAU attempts 35.5 triple tries per night and is making over a dozen of them to lead DII in both categories. SAU's 35.5 attempts from beyond-the-arc are the fourth-most per game average of any NCAA team trailing only Division III's Nichols (37.5) and Birmingham Southern (36.5). Eight teams across NCAA's three divisions are averaging at least ten made threes per game from deep this season and SAU's 12.2 makes leads them all.

Behind a high-powered three-point shooting attack that includes a 34.3% success rate, a top 40 mark in DII, the Muleriders boast the GAC's top scoring offense at 79.3 ppg which rates eighth nationally in DII.

The Muleriders are averaging the seventh-most assists in the country at 17.6 per game and hold a top 40 assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.01. Both marks lead the GAC. SAU's 12.4 steals per game is tops in the league and ninth nationally and helps the overall effort in forcing turnovers as the Muleriders' per game rate of 22.46 ranks 10th nationally. Its turnover margin of 5.07 is first in the league and 21st in DII.

At any given time, the Muleriders can employ a five that includes two of the top three-point shooters in the GAC in Mychala Linzy and Jessica Jones. Linzy's 182 attempts (1st), 71 makes (3rd), and 39% shooting clip (3rd) all rank in the GAC's top three. Jones' 171 attempts (3rd), 64 makes (4th) and 37.4 shooting clip (4th) all rank in the GAC's top four.

True freshman Marlee Bright leads the league and ranks 17th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.50. Senior Braydyn Hill follows in second at 2.02 and Linzy is third at 1.79.

SAU is currently +3.7 in scoring margin at 79.3 ppg. Diamond Morris leads in scoring at 12.1 ppg and Minzy follows at 10.2 ppg. Morris is also the team's top rebounder at 4.9 per game. Six Muleriders are averaging at least 2.5 boards per game.

Mulerider Milestones
2/23 | Senior guard Kylie Warren enjoyed a memorable final game inside the W.T. Watson Center as the Carlisle, Arkansas native eclipsed the 1,000-point scoring mark for her career. Warren became just the second Mulerider, joining teammate Diamond Morris, to reach the scoring milestone since Kamaria Hobbs (2008-12) and she is just the sixth to accomplish the feat since 2000.

2/2 | Senior guard Mychala Linzy etched her name atop the program's single-season three-pointers made list as she knocked down seven triple tries in a home win over Southwestern Oklahoma State to top the previous season-best trifecta record of 56 set by Cha'Kia Lee in 2009-10. Entering postseason play, Linzy has hit 71 three-point shots this season.

1/23 | Senior guard Diamond Morris scored 22 points in a Monday night win at Arkansas-Monticello and in the process surpassed the 1,000-point scoring mark to become the first Mulerider to have played her entire career in the GAC and the fifth player since 2000 to reach the mark. The Sheridan, Arkansas native reached the milestone in 86 games and currently has 1,126 points which places her 15th on the all-time scoring list.

12/19 | SAU blitzed University of the Ozarks 110-47 for their largest scoring margin of the season and the Muleriders crossed the century mark for the fifth time in their first ten games of the season which matched the 100-point games by the squad the season prior. In the previous two years, the Muleriders reached the century mark in scoring ten times. Prior to the start of the 2021-22 campaign and since becoming a member of the GAC in 2012-13, the Muleriders had managed just two 100-point scoring games. Of the dozen 100+ scoring games over the past eleven seasons, Collins' squads have orchestrated 11 of them.

12/17 | The Muleriders were edged at home by Arkansas Tech, but not before erupting for a program-record 22 made three-points attempts on 37.9% shooting from deep. It was the third game of the season that SAU had made at least 20 three-point attempts and the Muleriders enter postseason play with five such games under their belts. SAU finished the regular season with 10+ made three pointers in 19 games.

12/16 | Southern Arkansas jetted past Arkansas Baptist 112-74 behind four double-figure scorers which led to a box score that saw all 15 players score, the team's third 20+ plus assist output of the season and 40 points off of turnovers. Most importantly, fifth-year head coach Adam Collins recorded his 200th win at the NCAA level and his 40th on the sidelines at Southern Arkansas. Collins leads SAU to its sixth GAC Tournament and has totaled 49 victories in his time in Magnolia; the fourth-most in program history.

10/5 | The Muleriders are picked to an 11th place finish in the GAC Preseason Coaches Poll. Two teams, SAU and Ouachita, that were picked outside the league's top eight will be playing in the GAC Tournament, while usual tournament contenders Southwestern Oklahoma and Southeastern Oklahoma did not earn a berth.