Storm Down OBU For First GAC Win

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Southeastern held off a second half rally and picked up its first Great American Conference win 72-66 over Ouachita Baptist on Thursday night in Arkadelphia, Ark.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 2-5 overall on the year and 1-2 in league play heading into a Saturday matchup with Henderson State who picked up an 85-80 win over East Central on Thursday.
 
Olivia Potter and Taylor Richards led Southeastern on offense by turning in 12 points each, with Potter going 4-of-10 from the floor and 2-opf-4 from three point range while Richards was 5-of-6 from the floor and added a 2-for-2 effort at the free throw line.
 
Kaylie Baxter added a 3-for-5 performance from long range and finished with 11 points.
 
Sa'Liesha Hunter turned in nine points off the bench, while Shelby Hill added seven and the Duo of Rachel Wallace and Emem David chipped in six each.
 
The Storm hit 42.6 percent from the floor and added a 42.1 percent effort form behind the arc by hitting 8-of-19 threes.
 
Hunter dished out four assists to lead the Storm, while Baxter and Wallace added three each.  SE had 15 assists on the night as a team.
 
Southeastern held a 39-to-33 edge on the glass with Wallace leading the way with seven rebounds, while Hill added six.  Richards and David each turned in five boards.
 
SE opened the game cold, with the Tigers pulling out to a 15-2 lead over the first 5:29 of the game.
 
However, a Webb layup at the 4:04 mark would trigger a 14-0 run in which SE went 5-of-7 from the floor to close out the first quarter and eventually take the lead at 16-15 on a Baxter layup with four seconds to go in the quarter.
 
The Storm built on that lead in the second quarter by holding OBU to nine points on 3-of-13 shooting from the floor, while hitting 3-of-6 form three point range and 6-of-12 overall to score 20 points and take a 36-24 lead at the half.
 
OBU mounted a rally in the third and cut into the Storm advantage, outscoring SE 24-16 in the quarter to leave Southeastern with a 52-48 lead with one quarter to play.
 
OBU would tie the game with 7:56 to play at 54-54 and twice after that, with the last tie coming at 6:16 to play at 59-59.
 
A Richards layup would kick off a 6-0 run to push out to a 65-59 lead with 3:32 to go.
 
A Baxter three with 2:46 to go would give SE its biggest lead of the final frame at 68-61, but the Tigers would again rally and close the gap to  68-66 with 33 seconds to play.
 
Rachel Wallace would sink a pair of free throws to get the game to two possessions, and Richards would add a perfect trip to the line with 16 seconds to play to fashion the final of 72-66.