LAKELAND, Fla. – For the fifth consecutive season, the Southeastern University women's basketball team is heading to the NAIA National Championship Tournament in Sioux City Iowa. The Fire were announced as a one seed in the Liston Bracket and the overall No. 2 seed in the field. SEU earned an automatic bid to the national tournament after clinching The Sun Conference Regular Season and Tournament Championship for the fourth-straight season, something no other team had accomplished in conference history. The Fire enter the national postseason with a 27-2 overall record. SEU kicks off national tournament play with a first-round match-up with the eighth-seeded Alice Lloyd College Eagles.
GAME: No. 1 Southeastern (27-2) vs. No. 8 Alice Lloyd (20-9) Wednesday 6:15 p.m.
COVERAGE: WATCH/LIVE STATS For the full tournament bracket, click
here.
FIRE FOCUS:
- The Fire have outscored opponents 664-398 in the third quarter this season. If the points scored in the third period of play were eliminated from all SEU contests, Southeastern would see its loss total double to four and its average margin of victory decrease by 9.2.
- The Fire have trailed an average of six minutes and 31 seconds per contest this season. There have been 10 games this season in which SEU has never trailed.
- Southeastern leads NAIA Division II in Assists per Game (21.4). Senior guard Halee Printz tops the country in Total Assists (201) and assists per game (6.9).
- SEU also ranks second in NAIA DII in blocks per game (5.2). This is largely due to junior center Marlena Schmidt, who leads the country in Total Blocks (89) and Blocks per Game (3.2).
- The Fire are 4-4 all-time in Sioux City, having advanced to the national quarterfinals each of the past two seasons.
THE EAGLES:
- Alice Lloyd is making their second-straight (and second all-time) appearance in Sioux City. The Eagles punched their ticket to the national tournament by earning the River States Conference West Division Championship.
- In their first appearance at nationals last season, the Eagle were also a No. 8 seed and fell to No. 1 seed College of the Ozarks 78-51.
- ALC averages 82.8 points per game, which ranks seventh in NAIA DII.
- The Eagles are also the ninth-ranked free-throw shooting team in the country (.762).
- Sophomore guard Haley Hall is the leading scorer for the Eagles, averaging 16.2 points per game.
- Hall enters the tournament averaging 20.5 over her last 10 contests and having made 23 consecutive free-throw attempts.
TALE OF THE TAPE:
SEU
Points per Game: 83.45
Opponents Points per Game: 56.1
Field Goal %: .472
3PT %: .390
FT%: .706
Rebounds per Game: 40.03
Turnovers per Game: 7.2
Individual PPG Leader:
Elsa Paulsson-Glantz (16.93)
Individual Rebounds per Game Leader:
Marlena Schmidt (6.61)
Individual Assists per Game Leader: Hailee Printz (6.93)
Individual Blocks per Game Leader:
Marlena Schmidt (3.18)
Individual Steals per Game Leader:
Makenzie Cann (3.21)
ALC
Points per Game: 82.76
Opponents Points per Game: 73.3
Field Goal %: .425
3PT %: .325
FT%: .762
Rebounds per Game: 42.03
Turnovers per Game: .059
Individual PPG Leader: Haley Hall (16.21)
Individual Rebounds per Game Leader: Haley Hall (5.79)
Individual Assists per Game Leader: Katie Moore (2.72)
Individual Blocks per Game Leader: Emilee Harrell (1.00)
Individual Steals per Game Leader: Haley Hall (1.55)
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