SE Holds Off Rally for Win over NWOSU

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern held off a late charge by Northwestern Oklahoma State and pulled away with a 78-68 victory in its first home game of the new year in Bloomer Sullivan Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 7-5 overall and 5-3 in Great American Conference play heading into a Monday night matchup with rival East Central at 5:30 p.m. in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
SE put four players in double-figures, led by Katie Webb's second 20-point effort of the season as she finished the contest with exactly 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
 
Sa'Liesha Hunter added an 18 point effort on 6-of-8 shooting with a pair of threes, while Tracy Johnson come off the bench with an explosive 17 points in 18 minutes, hitting 6-of-10 from the field and 3-of-7 from behind the arc.
 
Olivia Potter added a pair of threes and finished the contest with 10 points.
 
The Storm shot 47.7 percent from the floor, lifting its average with a 53.6 percent effort in the second half.
 
Hunter dished out a team-high four assists as the team combined to hand out 18 across from 10 turnovers.
 
Ariannah Kemp led all players on the glass with nine rebounds, while Webb added seven and Emem David chipped in six.
 
Southeastern jumped ahead early and jumped up by as much as 13 points on a Potter jumper before taking a 20-10 lead into the second quarter.
 
The Storm lead melted all the way down to just one point by the 6:51 mark, but an offensive rebound and putback by David would push the momentum back the other way and SE finished the half on a 14-4 run to take a 36-25 lead at the break.
 
Southeastern built on its lead in the second half, going up 60-37 on a pair of Hunter free throws with 2:08 to go in the third before settling on a 64-45 lead heading to the fourth.
 
NWOSU used a 14-3 run to cut SE's lead to single digits by the 6:21 mark of the fourth quarter, but a Webb layup would stop the bleeding.
 
The Rangers would continue chopping away and close to within seven points with 32 second to play, but SE would do just enough at the free throw line and on defense to stretch it back to a 78-68 final score.