Storm Tripped Up at Home by SAU

DURANT, Okla. – Despite 24 points from Olivia Potter Southeastern was unable to snap its season-opening skid, falling to Southern Arkansas 67-64 on Saturday afternoon in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 0-4 on the season and 0-2 in Great American Conference play heading into a Nov. 24 out-of-conference matchup with Bacone at 5:30 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
Potter drained eight threes and hit 50.0 from behind the arc to lead a trio of SE scorers in double figures.
 
Kaylie Baxter added 14 points with a pair of threes, while Rachel Wallace hit three form long range and finished with 11 points on the night.
 
The Storm hit 13 threes on the night and shot just under 40 percent as a team, but were also 38.1 percent from the field overall while SAU finished with a 48.1 percent shooting night.
 
Taylor Richards dished out a team-best six assists as the Storm handed out 20 as a team, with Wallace adding four and Madison Thames chipping in three.
 
Southeastern was outrebounded 42-to-29, but neither team made use of offensive boards as the Storm finished with nine and the Muleriders with 10, but posted just six and eight second-chance points, respectively.
 
Katie Webb led SE on the glass with eight rebounds, while Wallace added five and Richards four.
 
The Storm used an 11-0 run to open  up a double-digit lead in the first quarter, going up 16-6 on a Baxter three with 3:47 to go in the period, eventually pushing that edge out to 12 before taking a 22-12 lead into the first break.
 
In the second quarter the Storm would push out to its largest lead of the day on a Wallace three to open up a 27-12 advantage, and while SAU would whittle the lead down to as close as six points, SE would score the final six points of the half, including a Baxter layup at the horn for a 38-26 halftime lead.
 
The Muleriders would start a rally in the third quarter with a 9-0 run to cut the Storm lead to six points with 3:03 to go in the third, but the Storm would stop the momentum and take a 53-45 lead to the final frame.
 
However, SAU would open up with 15 straight points to begin the fourth quarter to turn an eight point deficit into a seven point lead with 4:35 to play,
 
A Potter three would stop the run and a Sa'Liesha Hunter jumper with 2:45 to play would close the gap to 62-59.
 
A Wallace three with nine seconds to play would cut the gap to 66-64 and SE would have a chance to tie with six seconds left but the shot was off the mark and SAU would add a free throw to fashion the final tally of 67-64.