Alva Review-Courier -

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Lady Mulerider Basketball team got off to a slow start offensively after trailing by as much as 18 points in the first half, but outscored the Lady Bulldogs in each of the remaining three quarters (62-54) to take No.10 Southeastern Oklahoma down to the wire in the 72-79 final decision that saw Southern Arkansas fall short on Thursday night inside the W.T. Watson Center.

SWOSU reached its biggest lead of the night of 18 points twice in the first half as they outscored the Lady Muleriders from the field and from the long range to take a 43-30 lead at the intermission. In that half, the Bulldogs shot 45.2% from the field that included a 3PT shooting mark of 33.3% which proved to be the difference in their advantage over SAU as the Lady Muleriders shot for 29.5% in the field with a 16.7% 3PT percentage.

In the third quarter, SAU cut their deficit down to single-digits after outscoring the Lady Bulldogs (20-16) to trail by nine points at the end of the frame, 50-59. Kimberly Crown and Olivia McWilliams both combined for 13 of SAU's 20 points in that frame to pace the Lady Muleriders in the close contest.

SWOSU scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to jump back out to a 15-point lead, 65-50, at 8:54 before the Lady Muleriders put together a 14-8 scoring run at 5:33 to make it a four-point contest, 72-76, with just a little over one minute left to play. In that sequence, the Lady Muleriders made good on all six of their attempts at the free throw line to shoot 100.0% from the charity stripe in the final frame. Of those six free-throw makes, Sue Key tallied four and Anna Djedjemel had two.

At 4:21 in the frame, Maggie Evans forced a turnover that immediately saw the Lady Muleriders sit at a 6-point deficit after McWilliams connected with a jump shot in that possession to make it 62-68, SWOSU. Evans forced another turnover less than a minute later where Key would subsequently score on a layup and then tack on six additional points to keep SAU in the game.

McWilliams later registered a steal at 1:18 and ensuingly set-up the assist for Evans' fast break layup that brought the Lady Muleriders within four, 72-76. With 26 seconds left to play, three consecutive trips to the charity stripe for the Lady Bulldogs saw them connect with 3-of-6 free throw attempts that extended their lead out to 79-72 and allowed them to secure the win.

UP NEXT

The Lady Muleriders prepare for another conference match-up at home this weekend on Saturday, February 10, with Northwestern Oklahoma scheduled for 1 p.m.