Southern Arkansas' Sue Key was unstoppable Thursday night as she led the Lady Muleriders to a 65-58 GAC win over Harding.
"We had been waiting for this day to happen and it arrived. She has a lot of experience playing and had an outstanding game tonight," said SAU head coach Julio Pacheco.
The senior from Dubach, La., via a transfer from the University of Minnesota, scored 33 points to give the Lady Muleriders (3-10, 2-5 GAC) their second league victory.
She shot 50 percent from the field, hit six 3-pointers and made 7-of-14 free throws.
"Though she had an outstanding effort, I was proud of the entire team and the way the girls played. It's an outstanding thing to beat Harding, which was a Final Four team a year ago," said Pacheco.
The Lady Bisons are struggling this season, with only one conference victory and 5-10 overall record on the year.
SAU's Olivia McWilliams, who finished with 14 points, started the scoring in the first period and the Lady Muleriders led 16-14 when the quarter ended.
Key knocked down three long-range jumpers in the second period as SAU carried a 34-28 lead into the locker room at half-time.
She continued her hot shooting in the third quarter by hitting three more shots from beyond the arc.
The Lady Muleriders led by 17 late in the third period and were up 50-39 at the buzzer.
The Lady Bisons wouldn't go away during the final 10 minutes and managed to get the lead down to six, 60-54, with less than a minute to play.
"Overall, I thought we were successful by playing our game. Again, Sue had a monster night, but it was an overall team win," said Pacheco. "Our alertness and focus were high. We executed the game plan."
Every Mulerider logged at least seven minutes on the floor, with Key playing 39 of the 40-minute contest.
"We now have to take this effort on the road and try to get a win at Arkansas Tech," added the coach.
The Lady Muleriders and Golden Sun will meet at 1 p.m. Saturday in Russellville.