LAKELAND, Fla.—The No. 1 Southeastern University women's basketball team will look to wrap up their regular season with a win over Ave Maria University on Senior Day this Saturday. Last week the Fire clinched their fifth-straight regular season conference championship with their 97-42 win over Keiser on Thursday. The Fire followed that up with a 99-51 win over RV Johnson & Wales on Saturday. The wins extended their conference winning streak to 78 games.
On the road in West Palm Beach, Fla., Southeastern jumped out to a 34-9 lead after the first quarter and didn't look back.
Taylah Simmons wasted no time getting involved, as she scored 20 of her 31 total points in the first half on 9-of-11 shooting. Senior
Eliza West recorded ten assists in the effort, her third game with at least ten assists on the season.
Simmons registered her third straight double-double, seventh of the season, when the Fire returned home to face Johnson & Wales. En route to her fifth TSC player of the week award, Simmons posted 31 points and 12 rebounds in the winning effort. Sophomore Raegan Linster added 21 points of her own, her highest output since she notched 21 points against then No. 1 Concordia on December 21
st.
The Fire have been dominant of late and lead the NAIA in several categories: scoring defense per game (51.9), scoring margin (37.3), rebound margin (12.2), defensive field goal percentage (30.7%), and field goal percentage (50.1%).
Visiting Southeastern will be the Ave Maria Gyrenes, who come to Lakeland with a 15-12 overall record, going in 8-9 in conference games. The Gyrenes are looking to end their two-game losing streak, suffering losses against Johnson & Wales and the Keiser Seahawks. Senior Sarah Miller is the player to watch for the Gyrenes, she leads her team and is second in the Sun Conference in scoring with 17.7 points per game. She is also second in the NAIA in total rebounds with 369. With Miller leading the rebounding efforts, Ave Maria is 12
th in rebound margin (8.2), 13
th in offensive rebounds per game (15.3), and 38
th in rebounds per game (41.0).
In the last matchup, the Fire struggled out of the gate, but found success in the second and third quarters to earn to the 70-54 win on the road.
M'caela Sellers led the way for the Fire with 22 points thanks to shooting 10-of-11 from the field.
Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 pm in The Furnace.
