Southeastern Runs Past Rival Tigers, 66-46

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern knocked down eight threes and held a 48.9-to-34.5 percent edge from the field en route to a 66-46 win over rival East Central on Thursday night in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 16-7 overall on the year and 13-4 in Great American Conference play, locking them into a berth in the GAC postseason tournament.
 
SE will be back in action at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15 in Weatherford, Okla., to take on Southwestern Oklahoma State.
 
Kenzli Warden led the Storm offense with 13 points, shooting 50.0 percent from the field, while Caitlin Kobiske joined her in double-figures with 11 on 4-of-7 shooting.
 
Ashton Hackler followed with nine points, as did Holli Lindley.
 
Stevie Stinchcomb was next in line with eight, followed by Abby Barr with six on a pair of threes.
 
Kobiske handed out a team-best four assists, followed by Hackler with three.
 
Stinchcomb led the way on the boards with a game-high eight rebounds, while Hackler and Warden pulled down six apiece.
 
Southeastern shot 77.8 percent in the first quarter to set the tone, and would close out the contest hitting 50.0 percent over the final 10 minutes.
 
Kobiske scored the first six points of the game as the Storm opened the contest on a 17-3 run over the first 8:05 of the contest, capped by a Barr three pointer with 1:55 to play in the first quarter.
 
The teams traded buckets over the final 1:55, with Southeastern taking a 21-7 lead into the first quarter break.
 
After trading threes to open the second quarter, SE used an 7-2 run to extend its lead to 31-12 with 4:25 to play in the first half.
 
Neither team scored over the next 2:26 until Stinchcomb connected on a layup to help the Storm close out the half by scoring four of the final six points, with a Warden jumper ending the frame with SE leading 35-14.
 
The teams evened out in the third quarter which allowed Southeastern slightly extend its lead, hitting 4-of-8 from three on its way to outscoring the Tigers 18-15 in the frame.
 
The Storm took its largest lead of the game to that point with 1:15 to go in the third on a Wietelman three, taking a 51-26 lead before taking a 53-29 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The Tigers opened the fourth quarter on a 13-2 run, trimming the Southeastern advantage to 55-42 with just over five minutes to play.
 
The Storm slowed things down over the next two minutes, holding just a 4-2 edge in scoring but following a Warden jumper, holding a 59-44 lead with 3:01 to play.
 
A Stinchcomb jumper and a Hackler three over the next 1:15 to extend the SE lead back to 20 points at 64-44 with 1:46 remaining.
 
Each team would tack on a finl bucket to make the final score 66-46.