Storm Tops SWOSU in Return Home

Box Score DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern put four players in double-digits led by 23 from Emily Williams en route to an 87-78 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday night in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 8-3 overall on the year and keeps them a perfect 5-0 in Great American Conference play.
 
The win also snaps a four-game losing skid to the Bulldogs who had swept the series in each of the last two years.
 
SE will be back on the court at 2 p.m. on Jan. 11 to face Northwestern Oklahoma State in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The 23-point night is Williams' second 20-point scoring performance of the season and matches the team's season-best single game total which was posted by Breana Small-Peppers at Midwestern State on Nov. 16.
 
Taylor Richards chimed in with a season-high 16 points, while Small-Peppers and Cheree Kiser each added 12.
 
Haley Schaefer and Ronay English each finished with nine points in the effort.
 
In all, the Storm shot 42.4 percent from the field and overcame 10 SWOSU threes by hitting 87.1 percent from the free throw line, going 27-of-31 as a team.
 
Richards turned in a game-high six assists as the Storm dished out 16 assists to 14 turnovers in the game.
 
SE held a 46-to-42 edge in rebounding thanks to Small-Peppers completing a double-double with 16 rebounds on the night.  The 16 boards matches her own season-best and is one behind the team's best rebounding outing of the season turned in by Schaefer.
 
The Storm held the edge in every analysis category, outscoring SWOSU in the paint, off turnovers and on second-chance opportunities.
 
The teams traded blows out of the gate with the Bulldogs taking very early four-point lead, but an 11-2 run would erase the advantage and give SE a 15-10 lead with 15:05 to go in the half.
 
The Bulldogs would regain the lead briefly, but an 8-0 run would push the Storm back out in front.
 
Southeastern would extend the lead to double-digits, leading by as many as 14 points after a pair of Kiser free throws before SWOSU whittled the advantage back down to 47-41 at halftime.
 
SE would maintain that advantage until the Bulldogs made a run midway through the second half, closing the gap to 61-58 with 12:33 to play.
 
English, however, would hit a pair of free throws on SE's next possession and key a 7-0 run to push the lead back to 68-58.
 
That lead would balloon to 19 points with 3:13 to play on an English three pointer, but SWOSU would close out the game on a 13-3 run to make the final score 87-78.