SE Makes GAC Final with Win Over Bisons

FORT SMITH, Ark. – Southeastern held off a late charge by top-seeded Harding, picking up a 67-64 win and for the second-straight season will advance to the finals of the Great American Conference Tournament in Fort Smith, Ark.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 18-12 on the season heading into the tournament final slated for 3:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon versus the winner between Arkansas Tech and Northwestern Oklahoma State.
 
Tori Kilburn logged her 10^th double-double of the season in a big way, dropping 19 points and matching her career high on the board with 16. She was 7-of-10 from the floor and added three assists and two blocked shots.
 
Kenzli Warden matched Kilburn with 19 points on the night, hitting 8-of-18 while adding three assists and two steals.
 
Katie Allen drained a trio of threes to finish with nine points, while Stevie Stinchcomb and Halli Hyatt added six apiece.
 
Kilburn's 16 rebounds led all players on the glass, while Warden added five and every player who saw the floor for SE recorded at least two rebounds.
 
Katie Allen, Mackenzie Espinosa, and Stevie Stinchcomb hit back-to-back three pointers to open the game on a 9-0 run over the first two and a half minutes.
 
The Storm would maintain the lead until the Bisons reeled off an 8-0 run to tie the game at 14-14 with 3:18 to go in the opening quarter.
 
The pace would slow and the Storm edged ahead on a Kilburn layup with 1:31 to go in the period and the Storm took a 16-14 lead into the second quarter.
 
Harding took the lead on a three to open the second quarter and the teams would find themselves in a 21-21 tie at the 8:29 mark.
 
Kilburn connected on the next bucket and kicked off a 10-0 run that she bookended with a layup with 5:36 to go in the first half, putting SE up 31-21.
 
HU scored the next four points, but the Storm finished the half with the final three points on a Warden three-point play and SE took a 34-25 lead into the halftime break.
 
Southeastern pushed the lead into double-figures with four of the first five points of the second half, and eventually stretched the lead to 14 points on a Warden jumper with 2:23 to play in the third, and took a 52-40 lead into the final frame.
 
Harding opened the fourth quarter by outscoring SE 13-7 over the first 7:02 of the quarter, cutting the Storm lead to 59-53.
 
The teams traded buckets and after a pair of Kilburn free throws with 1:18 to play, the Storm led 65-57.
 
Harding answered with the next five points on a jumper and a three-point play, trimming the Storm advantage to 65-62 with 53 seconds to play.
 
Warden gave SE a two-possession lead on a layup with 25 seconds remaining.
 
The Bisons connected on a layup to once again close the gap to three and would get one more look, missing a three and a follow up attempt before Chloe Eversole locked up the rebounds to preserve the 67-64 Storm win.