Women's Basketball Cruises Past Coastal Georgia

LAKELAND, Fla.- The No. 1 Southeastern University women's basketball team surged to another Sun Conference win Saturday afternoon in The Furnace, as the Fire handled the College of Coastal Georgia Mariners 94-47. The win marked Southeastern's 73^rd consecutive win versus a TSC opponent.

It did not take long for the Fire to build separation between themselves and the Mariners. After being up 7-6 with 7:20 to go in the first quarter, SEU went on a 12-0 run to take a 19-6 lead.

No individual did it all for Southeastern, as it was a total-team effort out the gate for the Fire. Although, nobody hit double-digits in the first half for SEU, six different players had five or more points. The Fire scored 15 points off of 13 Mariner turnovers in the first half, as Southeastern took a 47-19 lead into the half.

"Our focus the past few weeks has been how we can create turnovers with tips and deflections," shared SEU head coach Tim Hays. "We feel like we are a team that is extremely efficient in transition."

The Fire continued to buckle down defensively in the second half, holding the Mariners to just a 33.3% (13-39) shooting percentage, including a 12.5% (2-16) from behind the arc in the second 10 minutes of action. Coastal Georgia was never able to trim the deficit to within 28 points in the second half.

Junior forward Taylah Simmons narrowly missed her 16^th game of 20 points or more on the season with 19 points to go along with six rebounds. Junior forward M'caela Sellers was just one rebound short of a double-double, totaling 18 points, nine rebounds, and dishing out four assists.

Senior center Marlena Schmidt notched her fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 boards. Schmidt was also the SEU leader in assists with five. Sophomore guard Raegan Linster was the fourth Fire player in double digits with 11 points and five rebounds.

SEU torched CCGA on the interior, outscoring the Mariners 52-18 in the paint.

Next up in TSC play, the Fire head to Miami Gardens on Thursday to take on the St. Thomas University Bobcats. Tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m.