Warden Drops Career-High 35 in Big Storm Win

DURANT, Okla. – Kenzli Warden dropped a career-high 35 points and Southeastern shot 55.4 percent from the field and drained 11 threes on its way to a 91-67 victory over Henderson State on Saturday afternoon in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The Savage Storm stretches their win streak to three and lift their record to 8-11 overall on the season and 5-8 in Great American Conference play heading into its last regular-season Arkansas road trip versus Arkansas-Monticello and Southern Arkansas Feb. 5 and 7, respectively.
 
Warden was ridiculously efficient on the afternoon, shooting 14-of-17 form the field, including a 5-for-5 effort from beyond the arc, as well as tacking on both free throws she attempted on her way to 35 points.
 
It was the second-straight game that SE had a 30-point scorer, and the last one finished her afternoon with her fifth-straight 20-point game, putting up 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting.
 
The duo of Warden and Kilburn accounted for 62 points combined for the game and with 8:12 to play in the fourth quarter had matched the Reddie team in points by themselves.
 
Stevie Stinchcomb was next in line with eight points with a pair of threes.
 
Kilburn handed out a team-best six assists while Stinchcomb and Abbie Barr dished out four apiece as the Storm tallied 22 as a team.
 
Kilburn and Mackenzie Espinosa each hauled in eight rebounds and Warden grabbed seven as SE held a 37-to-34 edge on the glass for the game.
 
Stinchomb turned in her best defensive effort of the season with four steals, just one off her career high.
 
SE finished the game shooting 55.4 percent overall and hit 39.3 percent of its threes, going 11-for-28 from long range.
 
The Storm scored the first five points of the contest on its way to a 16-4 run capped by a Warden bucket at the 4:44 mark of the opening frame.
 
HSU answered with an 11-0 run to nearly erase the Storm lead entirely, but a Kilburn jumper with 2:19 to go in the frame stopped the bleeding and triggered an 11-0 run the other way to end the quarter, capped by an Akiera Hawk bucket at the horn to take a 27-15 lead at the first quarter break.
 
Southeastern scored the first eight points of the second quarter, the last of that run coming on a Barr jumper three minutes in to take a 35-15 lead.
 
The lead peaked at 24 points in the second quarter on a Warden three with 3:01 remaining in the half before HSU closed the quarter on an 8-0 run to trim the Storm advantage to 47-31 at the half.
 
The Reddies continued their push early in the third, using a 10-4 run to close the SE advantage to 10 points at 51-41 with 6:18 to go in the period.
 
Another Warden three ended that run and the Storm maintained its double figure lead throughout the third, taking a 69-57 lead into the final quarter.
 
Southeastern opened with the first eight points of the frame, capped by a Warden layup to extend the lead to 77-57 with 8:12 to play.
 
HSU would cut the deficit to under 20 points three times over their next three possessions, but the Storm had an answer each time and used a 9-2 run to take its largest lead of the day at 91-65 on a Gazey Yates three before settling on a 91-67 final score.