Box Score BETHANY, Okla. — Abby Boyd scored a career-high 26 points hitting a career high four 3-pointers and Southern Nazarene went 9-for-21 from beyond the arc as the Storm knocked off Southern Arkansas 86-68 at home.
 
"She (Boyd) played extremely well," said Head Coach Derek Dorris. "Especially for a freshmen and being put in that situation and the kind of game it was, they were trapping us all over the floor and she was able to make our offense flow."
 
The Crimson Storm (7-6, 4-3) wasted no time getting off to a 17-5 lead at the 12:12 mark in the first half after Kristin Milster made a layup. The Storm extended that lead to 19 with only 2:04 left in the half after Milster hit a free throw. Southern Arkansas (7-5, 3-3 GAC) though, was in the midst of closing the half on a 6-2 run before Boyd nailed a jumper with nine seconds left and sent the Storm to the locker room on top 42-25.
 
Boyd, scored 17 of her 26 points in the first and pulled in six rebounds. SNU shot 46.9 percent from the field in the first half and limited the Muleriders to only 9-for-33 shooting from the field. The Storm hit five first-half 3-pointers and went 7-for-9 from the free throw line. SNU did not allow Southern Arkansas to get anything going from downtown, as the Muleriders were 0-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first half. Southern Arkansas went to the line 15 times in the half but only shot 46.7 percent from the charity stripe.
 
SNU cruised in the second half and never allowed the Muleriders to get within single digits. The Storm took their largest lead of 23 at the 7:44 mark after Danielle Gaddis hit a free throw. SNU never looked back and finished the game strong to earn its seventh win of the season and its fourth win in the Great American Conference.
 
The Storm finished the game going 27-for-58 from the field shooting 46.6 percent. SNU shot 42.9 percent from the 3-point line going 9-of-21 and made 23-of-27 free throws. The Muleriders only dished out 11 assists compared to the Storm's 17 and SNU out rebounded Southern Arkansas 50 to 37. SNU did not allow Southern Arkansas to make a single 3-pointer as the Muleriders went 0-for-8 from downtown and only 26-of-73 from the field. SAU only went 16-of-27 from the free throw line shooting 59.3 percent.
 
"We're capable of shooting the ball that well," said Dorris. "Obviously when the ball goes in the hole it makes everything else a whole lot easier and tonight was not an exception."
 
Boyd led all scorers with 26 points and went 4-of-6 from the 3-point line while dishing out four assists. She also had a career high seven rebounds and made a career high eight free throws going 8-for-9. Callee Cox scored 23 points shooting 50 percent from the field going 7-for-14 and grabbed four rebounds. Milster tallied 14 points going 2-for-4 from behind the arc grabbing four rebounds and dished out two assists. Aminata Fall notched another double-double scoring 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Katelyn Gorman scored four points on 2-for-2 shooting and grabbed four rebounds.
 
"Its important for us to stay together and put the team first in all situations," said Dorris. "And I think this evening was a prime example of that. I thought we moved the basketball and made the extra passes when we needed to. We shot the ball well because we were getting good looks and we were getting good looks because we were moving the basketball and finding the open person."
 
The Storm will take the floor again next Thursday when they travel to East Central for a Great American Conference matchup, Thursday, at 5:30 p.m.