LAKELAND, Fla. - The No. 2 ranked Southeastern women's basketball team defeated the No. 1 ranked Concordia (Neb.) University Bulldogs 97-72 this Friday afternoon. Five Fire players recorded double-digit points to help the Fire move to 13-2 on the season.
Within the first five minutes of the game, Southeastern went on a run outscoring the Bulldogs 13-2. For the remainder of the first frame, the Fire tallied 10 more points. Going into the second half, SEU held a 25-10 advantage over CNC.
The Fire were shooting .474 in the field with 10-21 field goals made, compared to the Bulldogs' .222 shooting percentage and four successful field goals out of 18.
Coach Tim Hays comments on the girls' first quarter, "Ultimately, we knew that the last time we played them we came out to slow and we had to battle back, which we did. But we knew we were better than that. We knew today we had a better start in this."
The second quarter was head-to-head as Southeastern and Concordia earned 18 points each. Heading into the break, Southeastern advanced their lead to 43-28 and continued to lead by 15-points.
In the third quarter, the Fire outscored the Bulldogs 28-16 as SEU took a 71-44 lead over CNC. The Fire made 10 of their 15 field goals, and were shooting .667 in the field. SEU was also shooting .800 from beyond the arc.
The biggest lead of the game was seen in the fourth frame with 3:40 left to go, as the Fire held a 31-point advantage over the Bulldogs.
Concordia finished the final quarter with 28 points, outscording the Fire by two-points. At the final whistle, Southeastern earned a 97-72 victory over the No. 1 team in the NAIA Division II.
The Fire tallied a total of 62 rebounds, to include 43 defensive rebounds and 19 offensive rebounds. Marlena Schmidt and Taylah Simmons led the team with 12 rebounds each. Senior center, Schmidt led the Fire with three out of the five blocks on the day.
Leading the Fire offensively was Simmons with 22 points, shooting 8-14 in the field and 6-7 from the free-throw line. Following Simmons was Reagan Linster with 21 points. Linster shot a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line.
Other point leaders for the Fire were M'caela Sellers (19), Eliza West (12), and Schmidt (11).
West comments, "In the huddle before the game, the team spoke about bringing it to our opponents, and playing our game and not their game. And I think until the end we did this."
The Fire recorded 20 total assists on the afternoon. Senior from Australia, West earned 16 of the 20 assists, breaking the single game all-time program record.
West also commented, "I think we were all very aggressive and ready to score. I'm happy my teammates were able to finish our opportunities. I can't get the assists without my teammates doing their job as well. Everyone knew their role, and did great in their role today, and that's why we were so successful."
Coach Hays commented "One of the positives of playing a good team this many times is getting to know each other really well. So we have known the formula on how to beat them, and what we need to do. I feel today was one of the best executed games our girls have ever played".
Southeastern will be back in action on January 4th as they take on Florida Memorial in Miami Gardens at 2:00 p.m.
