ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Thursday night in Clark County marked the final contest for the Muleriders during the Fall semester as they made the trip to the Duke Wells Center located on the campus of Henderson State University. Southern Arkansas seemed after its first victory in the Duke since the 2017-18 season and nearly did after the unit nearly displayed a 22-point comeback in the second half. 

After being down by as much as 22 points in the third period of play (37-57 end of third), the Muleriders brought the contest back to within a single possession at just three points for the final score of 67-70, outscoring the Reddies 30-13 in the fourth quarter. The effort in Arkadelphia came up just short though and with the shortcoming, SAU falls to 7-4 with a 2-3 record in the Great American Conference entering the break. 

Leading the group in scoring was the native of Sulphur, Louisiana, Addy Tremie. She shot 50% from the field (7-14) with 17 points to show for her effort. With her points Tremie produced six rebounds and a pair of assists. 

Next in line for scoring was Riley Stanford. The junior hooper from Benton, Louisiana had a career night as she made five of her eight shots, which were all from three-point range, and accounted for 15 points and a career-high in scoring for a game. 

Crystal Ortiz, like Tremie, made 50% of her shots from the field as the senior out of the Sooner State was 6-12 for 13 points along with five rebounds. 

Elena Lijo-Rodriguez was the final double-digit scorer for the Blue and Gold. The Spanish descendant scored 10 points against the Reddies and marks her fourth game out of the last five with double-digit scoring. The junior nearly had another double-double as she was just two rebounds shy with eight. 

As a team, shooting was no issue, especially in the second half. During the first half of the contest the Muleriders made 35.7% of their shots which would see a huge improvement in the second half (53.6%), specifically in the fourth as the group shot 71.43% in the final period of play (10-14).

With the final outing of December in the books, Southern Arkansas now looks to utilize the break and looks forward to re-enter the W.T. Watson Center January 4 to take on the preseason GAC favorites, the Harding Bisons.