MAGNOLIA, Ark – The Muleriders come off a split weekend after defeating Southwestern Oklahoma State 88-55 and falling to (#19/NR) Northwestern Oklahoma State 53-57 while at home inside the W.T. Watson Center before the spring semester begins. Southern Arkansas continues its January endeavors against the Great American Conference Oklahoma teams as the Muleriders travel to Durant, Oklahoma for a Thursday evening (Jan. 11) meeting with Southeastern Oklahoma State at 5:30 p.m. to then be followed by a Saturday afternoon (Jan. 13) matchup with East Central in Ada, Oklahoma at 1:00 p.m.
 
Southeastern Oklahoma State (4-8 | 0-6 GAC)
>>> Southeastern Oklahoma State has not had the start to the 2023-24 season that they were hoping for as they have begun the campaign 4-8 with six of those losses coming from Great American Conference competition. The Savage Storm are looking to find their footing in Darin Grover's 19th season as the SEOSU head coach.
>>> With the start of the 2024 portion of the season, Southeastern Oklahoma begins 0-2 losing to #20/NR Harding and Arkansas Tech on the road at Searcy and Russellville, Arkansas. The Savage Storm looked to have a more promising start to conference play after their narrow loss to now #7/2 Southern Nazarene 62-68, which is the closest ballgame the Crimson Storm has had thus far. As of right now, Southeastern Oklahoma State is on a seven-game losing streak that was initiated by Texas A&M International back on November 22 and has continued with their first six conference matchups.
>>> Caitlin Kobiske has been the Storm's top player thus far this season as she ranks in the top ten of the league in field goal percentage (8th | 44.6%), field goals (8th | 62), free throw attempts (2nd | 69), free throw percentage (7th | 82.6), free throws made (2nd | 57), and points per game (7th | 15.7).
>>> In their last matchup, Southeastern Oklahoma State took care of business against the Muleriders in Durant, Oklahoma with an 88-53 victory over SAU. Prior to that, the Muleriders won three straight over the Savage Storm.
 
East Central (4-6 | 0-6 GAC)
 
>>> East Central into the second week of January with the same 0-6 conference record as the Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm.  The Tigers began their season 3-0 against non-conference opponents Ecclesia College (76-16), Newman (Kan.) (78-74), and Oklahoma Christian (59-53). Since then, ECU's sole victory has come against Dallas Christian College (97-30) in a remake game on December 12.
>>> Mackenzie Crusoe comes in to this matchup as East Central's primary player as she ranks in the top ten of the Great American Conference in free throw percentage (8th | 82.5), points per game (10th | 14.8), defensive rebounds per game (3rd | 6.2), rebounds per game (5th | 7.7), steals (8th | 24), and steals per game (2nd | 2.67).
>>> The Tigers rank 17th in the nation in three-pointers per game, which is just second in the Great American Conference as they have averaged 8.2 shots from beyond the arc knocking down per matchup.
>>> Jayden Weiberg has been one of the largest reasons for the success from three for ECU as she ranks 14th nationally in three-point percentage (3rd GAC) with 45.5% of her shots counting.
>>> The last encounter between ECU and SAU saw a late attempt at a comeback for the Muleriders as they were down 33-56 going into the fourth period. In the fourth period, Southern Arkansas outscored ECU 36-21, but still came up short losing 69-77.
 
'RIDERS IN THE STORM
 
>>> The Savage Storm has proven to be a tough-task for Southern Arkansas since merging into the Great American Conference. This is especially true for the Muleriders on the road.
>>> SAU on the road at Durant, Oklahoma is 3-8 against Southeastern Oklahoma State. As of late, Southern Arkansas has found a way to defeat the Savage Storm while inside the W.T. Watson Center, but has not been able to calm the Storm since February 1, 2018 when the Muleriders overcame Southeastern Oklahoma State in a down-to-the-wire matchup with a final score of 68-67 in Durant, Oklahoma.
>>> Over the last two seasons, Southern Arkansas has gone 2-2 against the Savage Storm winning both occasions in Magnolia, but falling to SEOSU in Durant by a scoring margin of 54 points. Each moment in Bryan County has seen the Savage Storm being able to shut down the Mulerider offense while having a field day offensively.
>>> In Magnolia, Southern Arkansas has outscored the Savage Storm by a scoring margin of 19 points as they have played excellent defense each time with the offense doing what it has needed to do to win.
 
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
 
>>> Much like Southeastern Oklahoma State, their bitter rival East Central has been a thorn in the 'Riders side for the past three seasons as SAU has only been able to acquire one victory against the Tigers, that being in Ada on January 9, 2020.
>>> Since that victory, Southern Arkansas has not been able to get over the hump that has been East Central. The Muleriders have yet to be completely derailed by the Tigers in the last three seasons. Of the three seasons, the largest margin of victory has by eight points with ECU winning last February 77-69.
>>> These two squads have been neck and neck each game since 2020 began as the average scoring margin between the two has been -2.2 in favor of the Tigers.
>>> East Central has taken much pride this season in their three-point shooting. As of late, Southern Arkansas has been picking it up the percentage from beyond the arc as both teams make at least 30% of their shots while also holding other teams to below 30%.
>>> This is just the second season in which ECU faces SAU while having not won a conference game yet. The last time it happened was last year with the Tigers making a late comeback in league play finishing 8-14 in the GAC.
 
HOW TO REBOUND
 
>>> Following their sixth win of the season in the Great American Conference opener against Henderson State, the Muleriders looked to be on top of the world going into the rest of conference play. After that, Southern Arkansas lost four consecutive ballgames against Harding, Ouachita Baptist, Arkansas Tech, and UT-Tyler before the holiday break.
>>> Immediately following the holiday break, SAU was faced with its first run at Sooner State opponents, which have proven to be difficult. Facing against Southwestern Oklahoma State was no easy task, but the Muleriders bounced back as good as you could have as they took down the Bulldogs very convincingly 88-55.
>>> Two days after this, Southern Arkansas was faced with the #19/NR Northwestern Oklahoma State Lady Rangers inside the W.T. Watson Center. After having just blown SWOSU out, SAU came into the game with some confidence back to face their first ranked opponent of the season. NWOSU has proven its might this season as its only loss came against #7/2 Southern Nazarene.
>>> The Muleriders stepped up to the challenge and played some gritty defense against the Lady Rangers, but could not get the crucial shots to go their way. Northwestern Oklahoma State would escape Magnolia as victors, but just by four points with the final being 53-57.
 
FROM BEYOND THE ARC
 
>>> To begin the season, Southern Arkansas has not relied on the three-point shot nearly as much as they have had to due to the difference in early competition. During those four consecutive losses, if the Muleriders were to hit a shot from range, it would have to come from Addy Tremie (the team's leader in three pointers made, attempted, and three-point percentage).
>>> Since coming off break, Diamond Morris, Riley Stanford, and Chloe Wilbanks have added on to Collins' arsenal when it comes to the three-point shot.
>>> In SAU's ballgame against Southwestern Oklahoma State, the Muleriders knocked down a season-high 14 three-pointers. As a team they shot for 53.8% from range which is the highest percentage from three since last January when Southern Arkansas took on Southern Nazarene with a 56.5%. The Muleriders lost by just one point against the eventual undefeated GAC champions.
>>> Against Northwestern Oklahoma State, it was the exact opposite. Southern Arkansas tied for a season-low in three-point percentage just making 20% of their shots from three and going 8-40. The Muleriders were given the right looks against the Lady Rangers, but could not get anything to fall down. In total, SAU shot 18-63 from the floor against NWOSU (a season low in field goals made).
>>> The game plan has been similar for the Muleriders for a good while now, the game runs through the three-point percentage.
 
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