SE Wins Second-Straight at SNU

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern shoots nearly 50 percent from the floor and puts five players in double-figures en route to its second-straight victory, downing Southern Nazarene 91-77 on Saturday afternoon in Bethany, Okla.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 6-11 overall and 4-7 in Great American conference play and breaking a tie with SNU and currently holds the No. 8 seed at the midway point in the GAC season heading into a trip to Arkansas-Monticello on Jan. 28.
 
Southeastern picks up consecutive wins for the first time this season and has won three of its last four with two of those coming on the road.
 
SE opened up in the second half for 52 points, including a 28 point fourth quarter which locked up the victory.
 
The Storm went 48.4 percent from the field overall and 48.4 percent from behind the arc, hitting 12-of-25 threes.
 
Nearly half of those threes came from Olivia Potter who led the way on offense with 23 points, hitting 5-of-10 from long range and 7-of-15 overall from the floor.
 
Kaylie Baxter added a trio of threes and shot 63.6 percent from the floor for the day to finish with 19 points, while Katie Webb came off the bench and went 8-of-10 from the floor and finished with 17.
 
Rachel Wallace hit three three-point buckets of her own on her way to 14 points, while Taylor Richards finished with 12 points, eight of which came at the free throw line as she helped ice the game down the stretch.
 
Richards dished out a team-best four assists, while Baxter, Shelby Hill and Sa'Liesha Hunter each handed out three.
 
SE was on the short end of the rebounding battle as a team, with Wallace leading the way with seven boards, while Hill and Webb were next in line at four each.
 
The Storm scored first, but SNU would tie the game at 6-6 early in the first quarter before a Potter three opened up a 12-0 run that was capped by a jumper at the 4:42 mark to make the score 18-6.
 
The Crimson Storm would narrow the deficit to eight points before SE settled on a 22-12 lead at the first break.
 
SNU continued to chip away over the first half of the second quarter, eventually closing the gap to just two points at 24-22 with 6:37 to go in the half.
 
A Potter three would end the threat and she would end the half with a pair of free throws with 28 seconds to go which gave the Storm a 39-27 lead at the half.
 
SE built on its lead in the third, stretching its advantage to as many at 19 points on a Potter three with 2:12 to go in the quarter which made the score 60-41.
 
SNU would finish the quarter on an 8-3 run to make the score 63-49 at the final break.
 
The Crimson Storm would slowly chip away at the Storm lead, cutting it to single digits with 6:12 to play, but Hill answered with a three and following a turnover Potter would pile on with a three of her own.
 
After an SNU bucket Baxter would connect on a three, the team's third in-a-row, opening up an 80-64 lead with 4:59 to go.
 
SE would go 6-of-8 at the free throw line over the final two minutes to hold off any chance at a rally by the home team and pick up the 91-77 win.