Box Score ORANGE CITY, Iowa—A rare slow start put the Fire in an early hole in the first game of the Pizza Ranch Classic.
Trailing by six in the first quarter, the Fire turned things around and came away with an 89-70 victory over Dordt.
The Defenders (2-3) scored the first five points of the game in just 39 seconds, and extended its advantage to six with 7:13 remaining in the first.
Southeastern (4-0) started two-of-six from the field, but started getting shots inside to fall, followed by a Maja Michalska 3-pointer with 4:11 left in the first to take their first lead of the night. After exchanging baskets, Dordt found itself with a 23-22 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
Michalska finished with nine points off the bench.
Trailing 31-28 with 6:16 left in the half, the Fire made their next seven shots, to take a 43-34 lead, with Michalska and Ana Richter scoring four points each during the 14-3 run.
Richter had a game-high 24 points, and added four rebounds, a block and two steals.
The Defenders picked up the final five points of the half and trailed 45-43 after 20 minutes.
In the second half, the Fire shot 50% (14-28) and held Dordt to just eight total field goals on 36 attempts.
Jaycee Coe was responsible for eight of those 14 field goals, scoring 19 second half points to help the Fire build as large as a 22 point advantage with just over a minute to play.
Coe finished with 23 points, four rebounds, and two steals. Emma Karamovic had a double-double effort of 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Southeastern will conclude its stay in the classic Saturday evening with a matchup against host Northwestern, which the Fire beat in last year's NAIA National Tournament to advance to the quarterfinal.
