Storm Women Unable to Rally in Road Loss

DURANT, Okla. – Kamryn Cantwell had 19 points and Grace Alverson turned in a career-high 15, but it was not enough to lift Southeastern in a 69-62 road loss to East Central on Tuesday night in Ada, Okla.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 10-14 overall and 8-10 in Great American Conference play.
 
"They're a good defensive basketball team," said head coach Darin Grover. "When they see they're being hurt in an area, they were denying Briley and then everybody else they were helping off of to stop her. We told her at halftime that they were going to do that, and sure enough, they did it. Other people need to step up and hit shots. Grace Alverson did."
 
Cantwell finished the game with 19 points and added seven rebounds while dishing out a team-best four assists.
 
Grace Alverson came off the bench with her career high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting with four threes.
 
Jordan Benson was next in line with six points, tied with Haiden Williams, while Lauren Beason added five.
 
Briley Moon was held to just two points, but did lead the team in rebounds with eight and steals with five while handing out three assists.
 
SE scored on the game's first possession, but the Tigers would answer with an 8-0 run to take an early lead.
 
The Storm would bounce back, chipping away at the deficit to close to within one point twice before a pair of Cantwell free throws at the 3:01 mark would finally regain the lead at 11-10.
 
A Woods three would stretch that lead to 14-10, but ECU would score six of the final seven points and lead 16-15 at the end of one quarter.
 
Southeastern regained the lead to open the second quarter on a Beason jumper, but ECU would answer and eventually push its lead out to 21-17 by the 7:22 mark.
 
The Storm would respond and toe the game at 21-21, but the Tigers would score the next seven points to take its largest lead of the half at 28-21.
 
Cantwell would connect on a layup on the next SE possession, kicking off a 10-0 run capped by a Jordan Benson layup. ECU would get the final bucket of the half, however, with the Storm taking a 31-30 lead to the halftime break.
 
East Central would take the lead early in the third and the Storm would play catchup until a Williams three at the 4:30 mark tied the game at 42-42.
 
Unfortunately, the Tigers would score seven of the last nine points of the quarter and take a 49-42 lead after three quarters.
 
A Benson jumper would close the gap to three points early in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers would slowly stretch its lead out to 62-52 with 2:07 to play.
 
A Cantwell three-point play coupled with a Grace Alverson three would close the gap to 62-58 with 1:16 to play.
 
The Tigers would score the next four points before Alverson connected on another three to close the gap to 66-61 with 25 seconds to play.
 
The Tigers would hit three of their final four free throws and SE was unable to mount a rally in a 69-62 loss.