Southeastern Holds on for Road Win at OBU

SHAWNEE, Okla. – Southeastern put four players in double-figures and held off a late Oklahoma Baptist rally to pick up an 81-77 victory on Thursday night over the Bison in Shawnee, Okla.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 6-5 overall and 4-3 in Great American Conference play heading into a 1 p.m. Saturday matchup with Northwestern Oklahoma State in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
Rachel Wallace picked up her pace in the second half and finished as SE's top scorer with 17 points thanks to a pair of threes and a 5-for-5 effort at the free throw line.
 
Katie Webb was next in line with 16 points and hit 7-of-10 from the field, while Sa'Liesha Hunter added 15 points with three threes and Olivia Potter finished the night with 14 on 4-of-8 three point shooting.
 
Southeastern shot 45.2 percent from the field overall, but was even more accurate from long range where they hit 47.8 percent or 11-of-23 from behind the arc while adding a 14-of-15 effort from the free throw line.
 
Hunter dished out four assists on the outing, while Webb and Emem David added three each.
 
Webb also led the way on the glass with nine rebounds with David on her heels with eight while Ariannah Kemp added seven.
 
The Storm held a 40-to-28 edge on the glass as a team.
 
The contest featured six ties and 11 lead changes on the evening.
 
The teams played a furious first quarter of back and forth basketball before Hunter hit a jumper at the buzzer to knot the score at 24-24 after the first frame.
 
OBU would take the lead out of the gate in the second quarter and aside from two ties would lead the entire 10 minutes, leaving the storm in a 44-36 hole at the half.
 
The third quarter was a complete flip as the Storm scored the first 15 points of the second half to turn a deficit into a 51-44 lead by the 6:36 mark of the third.
 
SE would push that lead out to its largest point on a Kemp bucket late in the quarter at 70-56 before taking a 70-58 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The Bison found its rally and tied the game at 74-74 after a 16-4 run and would take a 77-76 lead with 1:13 to play.
 
However, it was a Hunter three at the 27 second mark which put the Storm back in front at 79-77 and a pair of Wallace free throws with four seconds to play would fashion the 81-77 final score.