Savage Storm Stumbles at No. 4 Spartans

TAMPA, Fla. – Caitlin Kobiske put up 20 points, but an ice cold fourth quarter would spoil the upset bid for the Savage Storm in an 84-52 loss to No. 4 Tampa on Saturday afternoon in Tampa, Fla.
 
The loss drops the Savage storm record to an even 2-2 heading into a second-straight road contest, this one versus another former conference rival when they take on Cameron at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 30 in Lawton, Okla.
 
Kobiske would lead all scorers in the contest with 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting with a pair of three-point buckets.
 
She would also pull down a team-high six rebounds.
 
Bri Wietelman was the next high scorer for SE, coming off the bench with nine points, going 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
 
Abbie Barr followed with seven while handing out a team-best five assists.
 
Holli Lindley would chip in six while Stevie Stinchcomb and Kenzli Warden turned in five apiece.
 
SE would knock down nine threes in the game, but it was not enough to match the 14 from Tampa as well as the 55.6-to-28.8 percent difference in field goal percentage.
 
The Storm would score first and jump out to an early 7-2 lead, but the teams would play to a 10-10 tie by the 6:05 mark of the first quarter.
 
UT would then put together an 11-3 run to take a 21-13 lead at the end of one quarter.
 
Southeastern would close the gap to five points less than two minutes into he second quarter on a Kobiske bucket, but the score would yo-yo- back the other with the Spartans taking a 32-22 lead with 4:00 to play.
 
The Storm would again chip away, this time with a Wietelman three closing the gap to six points before UT would again push the score to double-figure.
 
This time SE would have the last work with a Barr layup making the score 41-33 at the halftime break.
 
Southeastern would narrow the deficit over the first half of the third quarter, with a Warden three cutting the score to 49-44 with 5:49 to play in the frame.
 
The Spartans would close out the period on a 16-6 run to take a 65-50 lead after three quarters.
 
The fourth quarter could not have gone any worse for the Storm as it would finish the final 10 minutes hitting 1-of-16 from the field as UT pulled away, shooting 52.9 percent from the floor to make the final 84-52.