Southeastern Wins 2020 GAC Title

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Southeastern shot 51.0 percent from the field and featured four double-digit scorers on its way to a 71-52 victory over Arkansas-Monticello to take home the Great American Conference Tournament Championship and punch its ticket to the NCAA Division II Central Regional.
 
The win lifted the Savage Storm to 22-7 overall on the year and earned them the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The announcement of the bracket and seeding it set for 9 p.m. on Sunday night at NCAA.com.
 
Kamryn Cantwell was named the GAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, while Katie Webb and Briley Moon each were named to the all-tournament team.
 
Moon led the team in the title game with 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting overall and a 3-for-3 effort from beyond the arc.
 
Cantwell finished with 17 points on the strength of four threes, while Webb and Tracy Johnson each added 11.
 
Moon also hauled in a team-high eight rebounds, while Webb dished out a game-best seven assists.
 
The Stork shot 51.0 percent for the game overall and hit 12-of-22 from beyond the arc.
 
UAM got on the board first to open the game and the teams traded bucket early with SE taking a 7-4 lead on a pair of Webb free throws.
 
The Blossoms picked up the next five points to take a brief 9-7 lead, but a Moon three would kick off an 8-0 run to end the first quarter and a Branam three to end it would put the Storm in front 15-9 at the first break.
 
UAM opened with the first four points of the second quarter, but a Noel jumper kicked off seven-straight Storm points as part of a 12-3 run that put SE in front 27-16 with 5:43 to go in the half on a Moon jumper.
 
The Blossoms would trim that gap to seven points, but Cantwell would power an 11-1 Storm run with the next nine points before a Webb layup stretched the lead back to 38-21 with 1:45 to play.
 
However, UAM would answer with the final five points of the half and Southeastern would take a 38-26 lead into the halftime break.
 
A Pair of early threes in the second half would push the Storm lead to 44-28, but a 10-2 run by UAM closed that gap to 46-38 with 5:45 to play in the quarter.
 
Four-straight Webb points would power a 6-0 SE run capped by a Branam bucket to go ahead 52-38 with 3:34 remaining in the third.
 
However, UAM would finish the frame on a 6-1 run to cut the SE lead to 53-44 after three quarters.
 
Southeastern responded to that run by opening the fourth quarter with 11-straight points, capped by a Moon three-point play with 6:30 to go, pushing the lead to 64-44.
 
The Blossoms answered with six-straight points, but a Moon layup would end that run and SE would score seven of the last nine points to hold on for the 71-52 victory.