Women's Hoops Tops SNU on Senior Day

DURANT, Okla. – Katie Webb got a bucket and converted a three-point play with five seconds to play to help lift Southeastern to a 73-70 win over Southern Nazarene on Senior Day Saturday in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 13-13 overall on the season and 11-9 in Great American Conference play which moves them into a tie for fifth, two games out of second place with two games to play.
 
The win also sends out a group of five seniors with a win in their final home game.  Those players are Kaylie Baxter, Shelby Hill, Demi Koelzer, Taylor Richards, and Madison Thames.
 
And on senior day it was appropriate for Baxter to share the team lead in points with 16, sharing it with a freshman in Katie Webb who put up 14 off the bench including the game winning points in the final second.
 
Baxter was 4-of-8 overall, with all four buckets coming from behind the arc where she was 4-of-6 for the game. Webb finished 5-of-8 from the floor and 4-of-5 at the free throw line.
 
Hill, another senior, finished with double figures with 10 points on the strength of a trio of threes.
 
Olivia Potter added nine points, while Rachel Wallace and Richards chipped in eight apiece.
 
Richards and Sa'Liesha Hunter dished four assists each, with Wallace adding three.
 
Wallace also led all players on the boards with 10 rebounds, while Baxter and Emem David added six each, helping SE to a 43-to-40 edge on the glass.
 
Southeastern headed into the fourth quarter with a slim three point lead, but by the time Webb hit a layup with 5:59 to play that lead had reached double-figures at 63-53.
 
The margin was still 10 points with 3:24 to play but SNU mounted a 10-0 run over the next 3:09, tying the game 70-70 with a three with 15 seconds to play.
 
That would set u[ Webb's heroics as Wallace found her in the lane where she was able to connect on the layup and draw a foul, converting the free throw to make the score 73-70.
 
A desperation three for the Crimson Storm was off the mark, preserving the SE win.
 
The Storm scored first in the game, but trailed for much of the first quarter, closing the gap to 14-13 after one quarter thanks to a Richards' free throw.
 
SE regained the lead early in the second quarter, but was only able to stretch it to four points at any time before SNU bounced back and the teams traded the lead three times until a Webb three-point play put the Storm in front 32-30 and propelled them to a 36-32 halftime lead.
 
The Crimson Storm would take a brief lead in the third quarter but an 8-0 run would put them back in front and they would carry a 53-50 lead into the final quarter.