LAKELAND, Fla.—With the first regular season NAIA Coaches' Top 25 ranking due out on Tuesday, the Southeastern University women's basketball team will have a chance to improve its resume in front of a national audience this weekend.
Already ranked fourth to start the year, and top-ranked Marian with a loss two weeks ago to St. Francis (Ill.), the Fire will have a chance to become the highest ranked team in SEU history if it can take care of things at the NAIA Division II Showcase in Kingsport, Tenn.
The Fire got off to a 2-0 start in Sun Conference play with a 39-point win over Webber International, and a 48-point win at Warner, moving to 7-0 on the year.
Pairing the top shooting group in NAIA Division II (52.1%) with one of the top shooting defenses (31%) has helped the Fire improve to 35-1 all-time under coach
Tim Hays.
On the offensive side, Ana Richter, the two-time reigning Sun Conference Player of the Week has connected on 68.9% from the field, and is averaging 21.6 points per game. The Oxford, Ohio native ranks third in NAIA Division II in field goal percentage, but is first among guards, and fifth in scoring.
Jaycee Coe logged a team-high 53 minutes last week, totaling 31 points, and hit five of the team's eight 3-pointers. The Kentucky transfer has made at least one 3-pointer in each game in her SEU career, including four against Warner last Saturday. Coe had 10 points in her debut on October 24
th against St. Leo, and has had at least 13 points in every game since.
Defensively, 6-6 forward Marlena Schmidt has quickly become a premier shot blocker in the NAIA, already totaling 16 in her first seven contests, to rank sixth in the nation.
Southeastern will face West Virginia Tech on Saturday, then No. 13 Indiana University East on Sunday at the MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center.
West Virginia Tech is off to a 4-4 start to the year, but have won three of its last four. The Golden Bears possess some length to help match up with SEU's size, and have registered 40 blocks in their first eight games. Four players are averaging upwards of 10 points per game, and two more are over 9.5 per contest. Savannah Shamblin has been the top scorer thus far, averaging 12.3 per game, and has connected on 16 3-pointers.
Also from the River States Conference, IU East checks in with a 6-1 record with the lone blemish to top-ranked Marian, 81-58. It was the Knights that ended IUE's NAIA Division II National Championship stay last season in the Sweet 16 with a 96-69 win in Sioux City.
The Red Wolves have put together a schedule to prepare them for a return trip to the tournament, with the Fire being the fifth team that has made it to Sioux City in the last four years that IUE will have played in its first nine games.
On the floor, IUE has had little issue finding the bottom of the net, connecting on 40.9% from 3-point range to rank second in the nation, and 46.3% from the field to rank ninth. Additionally, the Red Wolves are 77.4% from the free throw line.
Tia King is averaging 20.3 points per game, having hit 14 3-pointers this season.
