SE Falls in Return Home to #22 Rangers

DURANT, Okla. – Kenzli Warden and Tori Kilburn combined for 34 points but Southeastern's shooting woes as a team continued as it found itself on the wrong end of a 64-55 final score on Wednesday night versus No. 22 Northwestern Oklahoma State in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The loss is the fourth in-a-row for the Savage Storm who slip to 3-6 overall on the season and 0-3 in Great American Conference play heading into a road matchup against Oklahoma Baptist at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13 in Shawnee, Okla.
 
Warden led the way for SE in the contest with 18 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting while adding a 4-of-6 effort at the free throw line.
 
Kilburn was right behind with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting with a 5-of-6 performance at the charity stripe.
 
Breanna Lindert was next in line with seven points off the bench, all coming in the second quarter.
 
Halli Hyatt checked in with six and Akiera Hawk turned in five.
 
Warden was also the teams leading rebounder with eight boards, while Hawk was next in line with five.
 
Abbie Barr dished out a game-high seven assists as the Storm finished with 13 as a team.
 
Hawk, Kilburn, and Hyatt each drained threes in the first three minutes as the Storm opened the game on a 9-2 run.
 
The Rangers responded with the next six points, but a pair of Kilburn free throws left SE up 11-8 with under two minutes to go in the quarter.
 
However, NWOSU got the last word in the quarter, closing with a 9-0 run to take a 17-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
SE closed the gap to five points on a Warden jumper, but the Rangers scored the next five points and pushed their lead to 25-15 before Breanna Lindert jumper ended a 2:37 scoreless run and brought the deficit back to single digits.
 
The Storm closed the gap back to five points on a Lindert three with 56 seconds to play in the half, but NWOSU connected on a pair of buckets over the final 30 seconds, making the score 31-22 at the halftime break.
 
Northwestern Oklahoma State scored the first points of the second half, but a 9-2 Storm run capped by a Kilburn layup trimmed the deficit to 35-31 with 7:00 to play in the third quarter.
 
The Rangers answered by outscoring SE 15-7 over the final seven minutes of the quarter and the Storm trailed 50-38 heading to the fourth quarter.
 
The NWOSU advantage peaked at 16 points early in the fourth quarter, but a Kilburn bucket would help rally the Storm as they chipped away, closing the gap to nine points with 1:22 to play.
 
However, that was as close as they would get and that would remain the final differential in a 64-55 loss.