Storm Cruise Past ATU in 2020 Opener

DURANT, Okla. – Kamryn Cantwell and Katie Webb each posted 20-point outings as Southeastern shot 50.0 percent from the field and cruised to an 85-58 win over Arkansas Tech on Thursday night in Russellville, Ark.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 7-2 overall on the season and 4-1 in Great American Conference play heading into a 1 p.m. matchup against Harding on Jan. 4 in Searcy, Ark.
 
"I thought our kids did a great job of handling their defense," said head coach Darin Grover, "I think Kamryn Cantwell and Katie Webb were just outstanding."
 
"More and more people are going to know they have to take away those kids," continued Grover, "Hopefully as they take away those then we'll start getting some open shots with Neely Noel and Briley Moon."
 
"Overall I thought overall they did a good job of executing our defensive game plan. We knew that we had to protect the paint. They set a lot of ball screens and I thought we did a good job of fighting those ball screens and not letting them get anything in the paint. Things got sloppy a little late, but when you walk out with an almost 30 point-win I'll take it any day."
 
Cantwell turned in a career-high 28 points to lead all scorers, shooting 9-of-12 from the floor and connecting on 8-of-8 free throws.
 
Webb finished with 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting and is now just two points behind Tera Newnam for fourth place on Southeastern career scoring list.
 
Briley Moon also reached double-figures with 10 points on the strength of a pair of threes.
 
Webb and Jordan Benson led SE in assists with three apiece.
 
Cantwell and Moon led the Storm with seven rebounds each as SE held a 42-to-33 edge on the glass.
 
After taking a 20-16 lead into the first quarter break, SE posted a massive second quarter, shooting 73.3 percent from the field in the frame and outscoring the Suns 33-8 over the second 10 minutes.
 
The biggest chunk of that difference coming on a 12-2 run to open the second quarter, with Cantwell starting and ending the run with a pair of free throws.
 
The Storm closed out the first half with Webb scoring the final seven points to push the Storm lead to 53-24 at the break.
 
Southeastern shot 57.1 percent overall for the first half and hit five threes and were led by Cantwell and Webb who combined for 35 points with Cantwell posting 19 points and Webb turning in 16.
 
The Storm picked up where it left off in the third quarter, using a 14-3 run capped by a Webb bucket to push the lead to 40 points at 71-31 with 4:24 to go in the third.
 
The lead would peak at 42 points at 77-35 on a Tracy Johnson three before ATU scored the final eight points of the third to make the score 77-43 after three quarters.
 
The fourth quarter slowed and the Suns would outscore SE 15-8 over the frame as the Storm cruised out to the final score of 85-58.