RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Kimberly Crownrecorded her fifth double-double of the season and led three other Lady Muleriders in double-figure scoring as Southern Arkansas employed a relentless effort on the road, despite falling to Arkansas Tech 73-69 in Great American Conference action on Saturday afternoon from inside Tucker Coliseum.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Southern Arkansas ended the first quarter with a 16-7 lead over Arkansas Tech as the Lady Mulerider offense found a rhythm early sinking six shots including three-pointers by Brette Wacha and Olivia McWilliams.

In the first quarter, Crown delivered six points, four rebounds, two steals, two blocks and an assist as the sophomore quickly put herself in position to register her fifth double-double of the season.

Arkansas Tech, which entered the game in second place in the GAC, came to life in the second quarter after shooting an abysmal 3-of-19 from the floor in the first ten minutes.

The Golden Suns outscored Southern Arkansas 23-17 in the quarter, but the Lady Muleriders would take a 33-30 lead into the halftime break.

After the intermission, Tech would regain the lead less than three minutes into the third quarter and would twice hold a seven-point advantage in the final four minutes of the quarter before taking a four-point lead into the final period of play.

McWilliams scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter on a shot from beyond the perimeter to bring Southern Arkansas to within a point of the lead, 53-52. Two possessions later, Sue Key knocked down a triple try to pull Southern Arkansas back within a bucket at 57-55.

The league's reigning Player of the Week in Lyrik Williams completed an old-fashion three-point play with 6:58 remaining as Tech's lead again grew back to seven, 64-57.

Tech's seven-point lead would stand until the 4:54 mark of the fourth quarter as Crown made the second of two free-throw attempts, before back-to-back buckets by McWilliams and Crown following a Tech basket helped Southern Arkansas cut its deficit to just four, 70-66, with 1:48 remaining.

A free throw from Key saw SAU pull within three with 42 seconds remaining and following an SAU timeout, Key quickly turned Tech over in the backcourt, but was whistled moving to the basket and her shot that would have made it a one-point game was waved off due to the foul call.

With twenty seconds to play, Tech scored to push its lead to five, before Crown made her final two free throws to again bring the SAU deficit to one possession.

Tech would add a free throw with less than 12 seconds to play and SAU would be unable to pull any closer in final seconds as the Golden Suns survived the upstart Lady Muleriders.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Crown led SAU in scoring with 23 points on an efficient 6-of-9 shooting and a key 11-of-12 effort from the free-throw line. She finished with 12 rebounds (her fourth career game with 12 rebounds) for her fifth double-double performance of the season and added two steals, two blocks and an assist in thirty minutes of action.

Key added 16 points and McWilliams followed with 13 points and five rebounds, while Erin Brinkley scored a dozen points and grabbed six rebounds. The trio each collected two steals.

The Lady Muleriders shot 81.8% (18-of-22) from the free-throw line on Saturday afternoon and 38.3% (23-of-60) overall from the floor.

Both teams struggled from beyond the arc making just seven three-point shots in 37 attempts. For the Lady Mulerider defense, it is the second game in a row in which they forced an opponent to shoot less than 15% from three-point range as Tech shot 14.3% (2-of-14) from range.

The contest featured four lead changes and three tied scores. The Golden Suns outscored SAU inside, winning the paint battle 36-26 after going scoreless inside during the first quarter.

UP NEXT

Southern Arkansas faces a quick turnaround and returns to action at home inside the W.T. Watson Center on Tuesday, January 16, for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off with league-rival Arkansas-Monticello. Live coverage links available at http://www.muleriderathletics.com.