LAKELAND, Fla. – After going 2-0 on the week in Georgia, the No. 1 Southeastern University women's basketball team sets its sights on finishing its regular season slate well. The Fire travels to Miami Gardens this Thursday for a matchup with Florida Memorial before hosting St. Thomas on Saturday for their regular season finale. SEU will put its streaks of 51 consecutive regular season wins and 39 straight Sun Conference victories to the test.
GAMES: Florida Memorial (15-9, 10-6 TSC) vs. No. 1 Southeastern (25-0, 16-0 TSC) Thursday 6:00 p.m.
No. 1 Southeastern (25-0, 16-0 TSC) vs. St. Thomas (19-7, 15-1 TSC) Saturday 5:00 p.m.
COVERAGE: Florida Memorial:
Live Video/Stats St. Thomas:
Watch/Live Stats
FOURTH QUARTER FIRE: With 8:15 remaining in the fourth quarter versus Coastal Georgia this past week, the Fire trailed 39-38. This marked just the second time this season SEU trailed in the fourth quarter of a game, the other being versus Northwestern College on 11/11. This was the first time Southeastern trailed a Sun Conference opponent in the final period of play since 2/10/16 versus Thomas, which was also the last time SEU lost a league contest. This season, the Fire hold an average lead of 26.5 heading into the fourth quarter. Despite the large advantage, SEU is still outscoring opponents an average of 20.1-14.6 in the period.
PREVIOUS MATCHUPS: The Fire defeated both Florida Memorial (83-50) and St. Thomas (77-51) earlier this season. Senior guard
Ana Richter led all scorers in both contests. Versus the Bobcats, Richter scored a career high 31 points and hauled in 13 boards. SEU trails the all-time series versus STU 11-7, although the Fire have won six straight in the series. Southeastern leads the all-time series versus Florida Memorial 13-5, having not lost to the Lions since 2/16/13.
THE LIONS: Florida Memorial has won four of its last five TSC matchups. The Lions are surrendering an average of just 51.8 points per game during that stretch. Senior forward Abreona Cabell is averaging 19.8 points and 9.8 rebounds over the last five games. Cabell has recorded three straight double-doubles and has registered a block in 11 consecutive contests. The Lions rank third in NAIA Division II in blocks per game (5.7) and sixth in field goal percentage defense (0.348).
THE BOBCATS: St. Thomas has won 10 straight, with the Bobcats last loss coming versus the Fire, which is also their lone Sun Conference defeat on the season. Active hands have been a major key to the Bobcats' success, as STU is fresh off recording 22 steals versus Webber International. St. Thomas is averaging 13.6 steals over its last five and ranks eighth in NAIA DII in total steals on the year (349). Graduate guard Kristina Bugarski has been a solid contributor for STU as of late. Burgarski scored a career best 21 points while hauling in 10 boards and dishing out six assists versus Warner last week. The Flagler transfer is 11-14 from three point range over her last four games.
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