SE Upset Bid Falls Just Shy vs. SWOSU

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern nearly rallied from a 16-point fourth quarter deficit, but was unable to finish off the comeback in an 84-80 loss to No. 17 Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The loss is the team's third straight, dropping the Savage Storm to 7-7 on the year and 5-4 in Great American Conference play.
 
"We didn't defend them great the first half," said head coach Darin Grover, "But offensively, every time they punched we punched right back, and then some. We came out of the locker room completely flat, were not focused, and they took it to us. Credit them for going down and knocking down shots, and we didn't counter those. I'm proud of our girls for fighting back in the fourth quarter. Missed baskets don't count. That's why it hurts so bad when we miss shots or free-throws. It completely changes the game, because if we would have made more of our free-throws, it could have changed the outcome of the game."
 
Courtney Brady paced the squad with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting with four threes, while Alix Robinson added 15 points on five threes.  Ariannah Kemp chipped in 12 in the effort on 4-of-8 shooting.
 
Sa'Liesha Hunter dished out six assists as the Storm turned in 19 as a team.
 
Hunter also led the way in rebounding with eight, while Ariannah Kemp pulled down six boards.
 
SE survived a back-and-forth first quarter and used an 8-0 run capped by a Katie Branam three-point play and the Storm took a 22-20 lead into the first break.
 
The Storm would push its lead to as many as five points in the second quarter, and would hold a 22-20 edge in another high-scoring quarter to take a 44-40 lead into the half.
 
The Bulldogs opened the second half on a 19-5 run and opened up a double-digit lead that would balloon to 66-53 lead after three quarters.
 
SWOSU extended the lead to 16 out of the gate in the fourth quarter, but the Storm would answer with a 14-3 run capped by back-to-back Brady buckets to close the gap to 72-67 with 6:09 to play.
 
The Bulldogs would again stretch its lead to double-digits at 12 points, but an 11-0 run capped by a Robinsons would cut the deficit to 79-78 with 1:19 to go.
 
The teams traded free throws with Chandler Kemp closing the gap to one point with a pair of free throws, but ultimately SWOSU would hit free throws down the stretch and hand SE an 84-80 loss.