MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas is coming off a couple back-to-back wins last week after sweeping East Central and Southeastern Oklahoma State in preparation for in-state rivals Arkansas-Monticello and No. 6/4 Harding. The Muleriders enter week 12 with an 11-11 overall record while being 6-10 in the Great American Conference.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Diamond Morris continues to lead Southern Arkansas in points, but after a spectacular week from Addy Tremie, she has caught her way up to Morris as she is just four points behind the fellow senior (Morris 282; Tremie 278). Over the last two contests, the Sulphur, Louisiana native (Tremie) has scored 30 points with her third 20+ scoring game of the season coming against the Savage Storm out of Durant, Oklahoma. The senior was 8-19 from the floor and 4-9 from three-point range.
 
Jessica Clemons has been the board-getter for the Muleriders as she is just one of three players with 100 or more rebounds thus far. Clemons has accounted for 110 boards (56 OREB | 54 DREB) with Morris having recorded 101 (43 OREB | 58 DREB) and Sihirah Reese being responsible for 100 (22 OREB | 78 DREB).
 
Tequaza Chambers remains as the heist manager for Southern Arkansas as she has accounted for 44 steals (7^th GAC). Morris and Marlee Bright have each recorded 39 steals (8^th GAC) and Clemons has been responsible for 38 (10^th GAC).
 
Arkansas-Monticello (7-15 | 3-13 GAC) L1
Southern Arkansas and their bitter rivals Arkansas-Monticello match up for the last time in 2024 after the Cotton Blossoms defeated the Muleriders while in Monticello on January 25 by a score of 72-63.
 
The Blossoms win against SAU was the first time since February of 2020 that UAM was able to overcome the Muleriders. Since then Southern Arkansas has outdone Arkansas-Monticello in six of the last seven meetings.
 
The Cotton Blossoms in their last four outings have gone 1-3 with losses to Southwestern Oklahoma State (59-53), Northwestern Oklahoma State (75-52), and East Central (52-50). UAM's sole win in the last four contests came against Southeastern Oklahoma by a final score of 62-58.
 
Arkansas-Monticello's leading scorer, Bailey Harris, is currently responsible for 310 points while being 114-277 (.412 | 7^th GAC) from the field, 19-71 (.268) from three, and 63-101 (.624) from the charity stripe. Harris has been assisted in scoring from teammates Alindsey Long (238), Haleigh Crews (178), Kelsey Blakemore (177), and Alyssia Thorne (173).
 
Harris also commands the team in the paint as she has recorded 132 rebounds thus far, and is just one ahead of her teammate Thorne.
 
As a team, the Cotton Blossoms have been averaging 60.9 points per game while allowing 65.9 points per game. While UAM is fifth in the league in three-point attempts per game, they are also last on the GAC when it comes to the percentage of shots going in as they average 26% from beyond the arc.
 
Harding (20-2 | 15-1 GAC) W9
The Bisons and the Muleriders meet once more since SAU lost to Harding in Searcy, Arkansas on December 3, 2023 by a score of 78-51. The Bisons have won the last five matchups between the two in-state foes as the most recent time Southern Arkansas overcame HU occurred in February of 2021 by a final of 88-76.
 
Harding is coming off defeating the last undefeated in NCAA Division II women's basketball, former No. 5/1 Southern Nazarene, by a score of 77-57 while inside of Rhodes-Reaves Field House. The competition was the first ever contest between nationally top-ten opponents in the Great American Conference.
 
Including the game just mentioned, the Bisons have been on the up-side of the score the last nine outings. The team's win-streak began after having just lost to the Crimson Storm in January 60-51 while in Bethany, Oklahoma. Since then, Harding has defeated OBU (65-61, SWOSU (79-72), No. 10/16 NWOSU (76-68), ATU (64-56), OUA (64-52), ECU (64-56), SEOSU (70-50), OBU (61-44), and of course No. 5/1 SNU (77-57).
 
Harding arrives to week 12 as the No. 6/4 team in the land following their dominating months' worth of hoops.
 
The Bisons lead the league in stat categories such as assist/turnover ratio (0.99), rebound margin (10.8 | 6^th nationally), and turnovers per game (12.8 | 7^th nationally). Harding is the second-best among GAC opponents in fouls per game (15), free throws made per game (15.73 | 18^th nationally), and rebounds per game (41.55).
 
Harding brings the reigning Great American Conference Player of the Year, Sage Hawley, back to Magnolia as she leads her team in points (349), rebounds (223), shots made (151-337), and blocks (32). Hawley is assisted by her teammates Jose Williams, Rory Geer, and Aubrey Isbell who have all accounted for at least 200 points scoring thus far. Each one of the last four players are currently averaging double-digit points while Hawley is averaging 15.9 points per game and 10.1 boards per contest.
 
Southern Arkansas is set to tip-off against Arkansas-Monticello at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday night for a Student Appreciation Night edition of the Battle of the Timberlands. The Muleriders will then look towards for Saturday for their matchup against Harding at 3:00 p.m. as SAU will pay tribute to our past women's basketball teams for Alumni Day. For more information on Mulerider Women's Basketball, check out www.MuleriderAthletics.com