MAGNOLIA, Ark. – A new chapter for Mulerider Women's Basketball is set to begin soon with Southern Arkansas under new management and seeing many new members to the group. The Muleriders open the 2024-25 season on the road in Wichita, Kansas for this year's edition of the Central Region Tip-Off Challenge. SAU is scheduled to face the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association's newest member, the Arkansas Fort Smith Lions. The Blue and Gold will back at it again on Saturday (Nov. 9) to match up with a foe from last campaign's schedule, the Newman Jets.
 
Arkansas Fort Smith (0-0 | 0-0 MIAA)
>>> It is a new age in Fort Smith, Arkansas as the Lions become members of the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) after being associated with the Lone Star Conference (LSC) for the previous five seasons.
>>> UAFS finalized its 23-24 campaign with trip to the LSC Tournament in Frisco, Texas where they faced then #1 Texas Women's University. The Owls (TWU) took over the contest in the third period too win the contest 61-50. The Lions had outscored TWU in the other three periods.
>>> Fort Smith was one of the LSC's top three-point shooting teams as the Lions ranked second in the league for their three-point percentage (33.6%), third for three-pointers made per game (7.5 | 30th nationally), and fourth in the LSC for three-point attempts per game (22.4).
>>> Zyniah Thomas, UAFS' top assister from a year ago and ranked 17th in the LSC for total assists (81) returns for the Lions along with Sinetra Jones who was second on the unit for blocks (13th LSC | 24 blocks | 9th blocks per game | 0.89).
 
Newman (0-0 | 0-0 NSIC)
>>> The Jets have been searching for turnaround for quite a while as Newman is under second-year head coach Amy Briggs who faced the Muleriders in the 2023-24 season opener inside the W.T. Watson Center.
>>> Southern Arkansas scrambled the Jets in that contest with a 98-48 final for the 23-24 Central Region Tip-Off. In that matchup, SAU was led in scoring by the eventual All-GAC Honorable Mention Addy Tremie with 21 points and making five of her eight three-pointers.
>>> While the Jets finished last in the MIAA, they were the league's top-team for blocks per game, averaging 4.3 each contest (27th nationally).
>>> Newman definitely enjoyed letting the three ball fly as the Jets ranked third in their league for three attempts per game. The Jets averaged 21.9 three-point attempts per game and made 26.1% of those three-pointers.
>>> Delainey Wylie was the league's leader in total blocks and blocks per game as the now sophomore accounted for 57 blocks (21st nationally) and averaged 2.04 blocks per game (17th nationally).
 
'24-25 Slate Breakdown
>>> Much like the previous six campaigns, Mulerider Women's Basketball will be featured in the Central Region Challenge, also known as the GAC/MIAA Conference Challenge.
>>> To begin the years, Southern Arkansas heads to Wichita, Kansas where the Blue and Gold will take on Arkansas-Fort Smith and Newman University. The Muleriders will meet Newman for just the third time in the programs' histories, but will also reacquaint themselves with the Jets from a year ago.
>>> Concluding the region challenge, SAU will head to Memphis, Tennessee to take on Christian Brothers, and then the non-con home slate begins.
>>> The Muleriders will play host to Arlington Baptist (11/16), Delta State (11/22), and Dallas Christian College (11/30) for three consecutive weekends.
>>> Southern Arkansas will meet the Gulf South Conference's Delta State on the court for the first time since December 13, 2017 when the Lady Statesmen defeated the Muleriders inside the W.T. Watson Center 49-53.
 
New Faces All Around
>>> Mulerider Women's Basketball has a new face to the franchise with first-year head coach Darrick Matthews taking over the helm with his assistant coach Sirena Matthews.
>>> The Dynamic Duo see seven returners from the 23-24 squad while also bringing seven of their own newcomers to the Southern Arkansas University campus.
>>> She's a new face to Magnolia, but not to the Matthews as former Drover out of the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, Crystal Ortiz, joins the Muleriders for the 24-25 campaign, also joining her coaches from USAO. Ortiz brings to the Blue and Gold her skills from her time in Chickasha, Oklahoma to the W.T. as the senior averaged 10.1 points per game (294 total points) while having the second-best field goal percentage on the team with her 42.3% (116-274).
>>> Matthews' six other newcomers joining SAU include sophomore Shiloh Fletcher, junior Ti'Alone Banks, junior Pashonnay Johnson, freshman Serenity Golightly, junior Elena Lijo-Rodriguez, and freshman Johnna Brockman.
 
GAC vs. MIAA
>>> The Great American Conference and the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association have been two rival conferences in nearly all sports as the reign of the Central Region runs through these two conferences alongside the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, which holds the reigning national champions, the Minnesota State Mavericks.
>>> Since joining the Great American Conference in 2011, Southern Arkansas' Women's Basketball team has gone 12-8 against those from the MIAA. Up to last season's Central Region Challenge or GAC/MIAA Challenge, SAU had gone 5-5 against opponents from the neighboring conference during the challenge.
>>> In last season's Tip-Off Challenge, the Blue and Gold prevailed in both contests with a 98-48 win over Newman to open the season and an 81-62 victory against Lincoln (MO) to finalize the challenge.
 
Back for More
>>> The Blue and Gold returns seven members of last season's group that includes standout players such as Tequaza Chambers, Marlee Bright, and Addy Tremie. Tremie makes her return as the team's leading scorer from a year ago with 350 points. The grad student ranked in the top three of the conference in three-point percentage (40.8% | 2nd | 14th nationally), three-pointers per game (2.21 | 2nd), and total three-pointers (62 | 3rd).
>>> Chambers comes back to Magnolia, Arkansas after having led the Muleriders in total steals with 55 in 23-24 and ranking seventh in the Great American Conference for her total.
>>> Just behind Qua was sophomore Bright in total steals as the now junior recorded 50 last season and led SAU with her average of 2.38 steals per game, ranking fourth in the league.
>>> With the Muleriders quick game from last season, the unit led the conference and ranked in the top-ten of the nation for their turnover margin and turnovers forced per game.