SE Clinches Postseason Berth with Win over SAU

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern snapped a four-game losing streak and clinched a postseason berth in the process with a 61-51 win over Southern Arkansas on Thursday night in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 12-11 overall and 10-9 in Great American Conference play and secures the team a berth in the Great American Conference tournament.
 
The berth will mark the 13^th-straight season SE has advanced to the postseason.
 
"Thirteen straight years we've made postseason play," said head coach Darin Grover of the berth. "That's a good thing and we wanted to make sure that we continued that streak with as much adversity as we've faced this year it was important to do that."
 
Southeastern will be back in action on Feb. 23 at 1 p.m. for the final home game of the season against Arkansas-Monticello but will be forgoing senior day activities as the team will not have a player completing her eligibility this season.
 
"Wins are always better than losses," said Grover about the game. "I think in the second half we executed our game plan for the most part to perfection.  I thought we strayed away from it in the first half."
 
Briley Moon continued her outstanding freshman campaign with her third 20-point game of the season, finishing with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting to lead all scorers.
 
She was joined in double-figures by Cierra Rangel and Katie Branam who turned in 12 points apiece.
 
The Storm shot 44.7 percent form the field and were somewhat limited from long range, but took solid advantage of its trips to the free throw line where the team combined to go 16-of-19, led by Rangel's 8-of-9 performance.
 
Tracy Johnson and Alix Robinson led all rebounders with 10 boards each while the Storm racked up 40 rebounds on the evening.
 
The teams traded buckets to open the contest, with Southeastern being the first team to put together back-to-back buckets, taking a lead on a Robinson three and going up 10-6 with 5:37 to play in the quarter on a Moon layup.
 
SAU would regain the lead at 11-10, but the Storm would take the lead back on another Moon layup and pull take a 16-15 lead at the end of one quarter.
 
SE scored first in the second quarter but a Mulerider three would tie the game at 18-18 just 32 seconds into the second.
 
That was the first bucket in a 17-2 run by SAU that left the Storm in a 32-20 hole with 2:04 to play int eh half.
 
A Pair of Cierra Rangel free throws would end the stretch and a Neely Noel three with 1:02 to play would close the gap to 32-25 at halftime.
 
Southeastern picked up the pace in the third quarter, erasing the halftime deficit with the first 10 points of the half, capped by a Moon jumper, before ultimately finishing the third quarter by outscoring the Mulerider 19-3 and opening a 44-35 lead heading to the fourth.
 
SAU opened the final frame on a 9-2 run to whittle the Storm lead down to two points, and trailed 52-48 with 4:16 to play before a pair of Branam free throws triggered a 6-0 run to push the lead out to 10 points with 1:19 to play and SE would settle on a 61-51 victory.