Storm Streak Snapped with Loss to ECU

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern had an uncharacteristically rough shooting night from long range while East Central hit nine more threes for the game and ended the Savage Storm's eight-game winning streak on Monday in a 70-60 loss in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The loss drops SE to 12-12 overall and 10-8 in Great American Conference play, dropping into a tie for fifth with Henderson State, but thanks to a loss by Ouachita Baptist they have secured a berth in the postseason tournament and will now be jockeying for seeding.
 
The Storm hit 5-of-20 from behind the arc, hitting just a pair of threes in the second half, while the Tigers shot 46.7 percent from long range, hitting 14-of-30.
 
Rachel Wallace led the Southeastern offense with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, but was the only Storm player in double figures.
 
Taylor Richards finished the night with nine points and three assists, while Kaylie Baxter and Olivia Potter each had eight points with a pair of threes apiece.
 
Baxter flirted with a double-double by adding a season-high 12 rebounds, while Wallace, Richards and Katie Webb each had five.
 
SE jumped ahead 7-2 early on a Potter three, but ECU scored the next six points to take its first lead of the game.
 
An Emem David layup would regain the lead for SE at 9-8 with 4:29 to go in the half, but the Tigers would get threes on back-to-back possessions to take a 14-9 lead and would hold a 17-14 advantage after the first quarter.
 
The Storm would cut it to one point early in the second quarter, but an ECU run would stretch the deficit to as many as 13 points before going to halftime with SE trailing 39-27.
 
The deficit would grow as large as 17 points, but the Storm would put together a 10-0 run capped by a pair of Webb free throws to get the gap to seven points and would head to the final frame trailing 52-44.
 
Unfortunately, SE did not have a fourth-quarter rally in them as ECU would get the lead back to double-figures early in the fourth where it would stay until a Richards bucket with 2:21 to play cut it to 64-55.
 
It would get as close as eight points before settling on the 70-60 final score in favor of the Tigers.