LAKELAND, Fla. – While they are winners of 42 straight regular season contests, the No. 2 Southeastern University women's basketball team has their sights set on what is right in front of them. The Fire are set to battle two teams that earned berths in The Sun Conference Tournament last season. SEU travels to Miami Gardens for a battle against last season's tournament runner-up St. Thomas before heading home later in the week to host Florida Memorial.
GAMES: St. Thomas (9-6, 7-0 TSC) vs. No. 2 Southeastern (16-0, 6-0 TSC) Thursday 5:30 p.m.
No. 2 Southeastern (16-0, 6-0 TSC) vs. Florida Memorial (10-5, 5-2 TSC) Saturday 5:00 p.m.
COVERAGE: St. Thomas:
Watch Live Stats Florida Memorial:
Watch Live Stats
FANNING THE TURNOVERS: The ability of the Fire to create defensive pressure and force bad decision making by opposing ball-handlers has resulted in an abundance of turnovers as of late. In its last two games versus Thomas and Coastal Georgia, SEU forced a combined 64 turnovers. Southeastern has had 20 or more takeaways in six consecutive contests. The Fire have disrupted passing lanes with active hands, averaging 16.2 steals during that stretch. Senior guard
Ana Richter is averaging 4.5 steals over those last six games.
READ THE FINE PRINTZ: Junior shooting guard
Halee Printz has emerged as a consistent distributor for the Fire on offense. The Tipp City, Ohio native leads The Sun Conference in assists with 81 total. Printz is averaging 5.06 assists per contest and has at least four helpers in nine straight games.
FIRE ALL-TIME: SEU trails the all-time series versus STU 11-6, although the Fire have won five straight in the series. Southeastern leads the all-time series versus Florida Memorial 12-5, having not lost to the Lions since 2/16/13.
THE BOBCATS: It will be a battle of conference unbeaten teams Thursday in Miami Gardens, as St. Thomas sits a perfect 7-0 in TSC play. After a shaky 1-5 start, the Bobcats bounced back to win eight of their last nine. During their first six games the Bobcats averaged just 60.67 points per game. However STU is averaging 74.3 points per contest over its last nine. St. Thomas has found an identity on offense due largely to the emergence of scorers like junior guards Samara Auguste and Katie Renas. Auguste is averaging 18.3 points over her last nine games while Rienas has notched 21 or more points in three of her last five contests.
THE LIONS: Florida Memorial has won five straight contests, including four consecutive TSC matchups. FMU hosts Ave Maria on Thursday night before traveling to Lakeland on Saturday. The Lions are one of the top shot-blocking teams at the NAIA Division II level, ranking third in total blocks (87) and blocks per game (5.8). The Lions feature the second through fourth ranked shot blockers in the conference in Abreona Cabell (28), Mya Jackson (24), and Ashley Henry (18). Cabell is also the leading scorer for FMU, averaging 17.27 points per game. The senior forward is fresh off a 29 point game versus Webber International.
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