Williams Powers SE to Win at HSU

Box Score ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Emily Williams turned in her third-straight 20-point performance and Southeastern finished its two-game road trip to Arkadelphia, Ark., with a 74-66 win over Henderson State on Saturday afternoon.
 
The win lifted the Savage Storm to 11-7 overall on the year and 8-4 in Great American Conference play.
 
Williams finished the contest 8-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-5 from behind the three point line.  She also added a 6-of-7 mark from the charity stripe to tally a game-high 26 points.
 
Haley Schaefer added 12 points to get into double figures, while Cheree Kiser chipped in 10.
 
Williams, Kiser and Shelby Hill each hit two-or-more threes and the Storm finished the game hitting 52.4 percent from long range on an 11-of-21 performance.
 
Williams also paced the team on the boards with seven, while Schaefer was right behind with six, but as a team SE was out-rebounded by a 40-to-27 margin.
 
Kaylie Baxter and Ronay English each dished out a team-best three assists as Southeastern finished with 15 dimes as a team across from 14 turnovers.
 
SE took advantage of its edge in the turnover battle by outscoring HSU 18-11 in points off turnovers, but the Reddies held the edge in second chance points and points in the paint.
 
The game was tight out of the gate with the teams trading leads and ties throughout the first half, with HSU staking a 23-19 lead with 6:02 to play before the half.
 
Williams would follow up with a three to key a 17-2 run that was capped by Williams on a jumper with three seconds to play that put the Storm up 36-25.
 
The SE lead hovered between seven and 12 points until the Reddies scored seven-straight to trim the advantage to 45-42 with 13:14 to play.
 
Southeastern answered with back-to-back threes from Kiser and Natalie Ruud and after another bucket by Williams the lead had grown back to double-digits at 53-42.
 
HSU would close the gap to six points down the stretch, but the Storm would hit 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the final minute to hold off a rally and pick up the 74-66 win.