LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 5 Southeastern University women's basketball team is Sun Conference Tournament Championship game bound after soundly defeating the Florida Memorial University Lions 84-49.
The Fire operated full throttle from the onset of tonight's contest. A three pointer from FMU guard Danielle Bailey with 7:08 to go in the first was the last field goal the Lions successfully converted until the 4:14 mark in the second quarter.
During that stretch of 12:54, the Fire outscored the Lions 29-0 and recorded 21 consecutive defensive stops to take a 37-5 lead.
"I feel like Florida Memorial came out and tried to do some different things against us, but our girls made a couple of adjustments and executed really well," shared Head Coach
Tim Hays.
Junior guard
Ana Richter found her offensive rhythm early, scoring 10 of her 15 points in the first half. Richter finished leading all scorers while totaling three assists and three steals.
SEU took a 46-11 lead over FMU into halftime. Southeastern held Florida Memorial to 12.9% shooting from the field (4-31), including 11.8% from behind the arc (2-17), and forced 13 turnovers in the half.
The Lions were unable to cut the deficit to any less than 32 in the second half.
The selflessness and depth of the Fire was on full display tonight, as five different players were double digit scorers.
Graduate guard
Cassidy Block shot 6-7 from the field to score 14. Senior forward
Christin Strawbridge also turned in a 6-7 shooting performance to net 13 while hauling in eight boards.
Senior forward
Sarah Green was in the mood once again to throw a block party, stuffing a total of five shots while scoring ten and pulling in six rebounds. Senior guard
Bailey Hooker rounded out the group of double digit scorers with 13 points.
Senior point guard
Alyssa Ramos was the leading distributor for SEU with five assists, her 13th game of the season with five or more helpers.
"I applaud our girl's consistency, their effort, and staying focused on what we do," commented Coach Hays.
The Fire will face the third seeded St. Thomas University Bobcats in the tournament final tomorrow evening. St. Thomas knocked off second seeded Keiser 74-67 in the second semifinal later this evening.
Southeastern won both regular season meetings versus St. Thomas this season by scores of 69-62 and 61-38.
Tipoff for the final is set for 6 p.m.
