Starters Power SE to Win in Battle of the Storms

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern recovered from a rough second quarter and a nine-point halftime deficit, putting all five starters in double-figures en route to a 91-85 victory over Southern Nazarene on Thursday night in Bethany, Okla.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 15-8 overall and 13-6 in Great American Conference play heading into a return home to face Southwestern Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
 
All five starters reached double-figures for SE, paced by Katie Webb who led all scorers with 25 points while shooting 10-of-22 and hitting a trio of threes.  Webb reaches the 20-point plateau for the fifth time this season and the third time in the last four games.
 
Rachel Wallace, Olivia Potter and Emem David each turned in 14 points on the night, while Sa'Liesha Hunter chipped in 12. The starters scored 79 of the teams 91 points.
 
Ariannah Kemp added eight off the bench, while Courtney Brady turned in four to round out all of the scoring by Storm players.
 
Hunter also dished out four assists as the Storm shot 50.0 percent from the field and hit nine threes.
 
Defensively Webb pulled down a team-best nine rebounds and added three steals, while David hauled in eight boards, six of which were on the offensive glass.
 
SE scored first and never looked back in the opening frame, leading by as many as nine points before ending the first 10 minutes up 21-14.
 
SNU would open the second quarter with a 9-0 run to take the lead before back-to-back buckets by Kemp and Potter would give SE a 25-23 lead with 7:18 to go in the half. The Crimson Storm would regain the lead shortly thereafter and pull ahead for the remainder of the half, taking a 43-34 lead at the break.
 
The Storm recovered in the third quarter as Webb drained a three to open second half scoring, while Potter closed the third quarter with a three of her own to give SE a 62-59 lead, its first in the second half.
 
Southeastern would never trail again in the contest, using a 9-1 run midway through the fourth to take its largest lead at 80-68 with 2:42 to play before settling on a 91-85 victory.