Branam 20-point Effort Not Enough to Lift SE

ADA, Okla. – Katie Branam posted her second 20-point game of the season, but it was not enough to lift the Savage Storm past rival East Central on Monday night in a 62-49 loss in Ada, Okla.
 
The Savage Storm slip to 4-4 on the season and in Great American Conference Western Division play heading into a Thursday night matchup with Southern Nazarene at 5:30 p.m. in Bethany, Okla.
 
"They do a great job of defending one on one," said head coach Darin Grover. "And then when they need help it's packed in the paint. We shot 21 threes. It's kind of like in football when they say 'were taking what they give you' if they stack the box, were going to have to throw to win the game."
 
"Well, they gave us threes and at 3-of-21, we didn't hit very many of those threes. KB [Katie Branam] delivered, but literally she is the only one that hit a three. When you're getting those kind of looks you have to cash in on some of them to get them to spread out a little with their help."
 
Branam dropped 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting overall with a trio of threes, while Jordan Benson reached double-digits with 10.
 
Kamryn Cantwell handed out a team-high three assists and led all players on the boards with nine rebounds.
 
The Storm struggled in the first half, shooting 15.4 percent overall and used solid efforts in the second and third quarters to finish at 34.7 percent overall, but was plagued by its worst night from beyond the arc of the season, finishing 3-of-21.
 
Both teams got off to a slow start in the first quarter with the Tigers opening on a 7-0 run and edging out to a 9-8 lead after the first 10 minutes.
 
The pace picked up in the second quarter, with the Storm closing the gap and tying the game at 11-11 on a Briley Moon free throw with 8:51 to go in the half and taking its first lead at 14-11 on a Branam three with 7:47 to play.
 
The teams played to three more ties in the quarter, the last coming on an Aimee Alverson three-point play to knot the game at 21-21 with 5:13 to go in the quarter.
 
ECU would finish he half on a 10-1 run to take a 31-22 lead into the halftime break.
 
The Storm opened the third quarter with six-straight points from Branam to close the deficit to 31-28 just over a minute into the second half.
 
However, the Tigers would score the next nine points and mount a 40-28 lead with 6:59 to go in the quarter.
 
SE would answer with an 8-3 run capped by a Benson layup to make the score 43-36 with 2:59 remaining in the third, but ECU would score the final four points to hold a 47-36 lead after three quarters.