Women's Basketball Fight Off Gyrenes To Go Undefeated In Conference Play

LAKELAND, Fla. - The No. 1 ranked Southeastern women's basketball team finished off their regular season with a 97-47 victory against Ave Maria. The Fire ended the season with a perfect 18-0 record in conference play.

Southeastern was quick to get on the board, as they took a quick 8-0 lead within the first two minutes of play. However, with 4:31 left to go in the frame, the Gyrenes were able to tie the game at 12.

The two teams were toe-to-toe for the remaining minutes of the quarter. At the end of 10 minutes, SEU held a six point advantage over AMU.

Ave Maria found much of their success from beyond the arc, as they were shooting 75.0%  from the three-point line in the first. Spain-native Marcarena Corral tallied eight of AMU's 17 points in the initial frame.

The Fire were shooting 66.7% in the field, with Taylah Simmons leading the Fire with 10 of the Fire's 23 points. 

Southeastern connected on 12 of its 17 field goals in the second period to take a 51-26 advantage heading into the third quarter.

Senior Marlena Schmidt led the Fire's defense as she recorded all three blocks in the game thus far. Following Schmidt is junior M'caela Sellers who tallied four of eight steals in the half.

The Fire continued to produce for the remainder of the game. In the third quarter, Southeastern shot an outstanding 58.5% in the field overall, and increased their lead by 38 points by sharing the ball effectively.

Overall, twenty-three of SEU's 40 field goals were assisted. Simmons led the Fire with a total of seven assists. 

Southeastern capitalized on the Gyrenes' mistakes, as in forty-minutes of play, SEU scored 42 of their points of 33 turnovers by AMU.

Closing out the game, in the final quarter, the Fire outscored the Gyrenes 25-13 to end the game with a 97-47 victory.

The Fire recorded eight total blocks. Schmidt and Sellers lead the team with four each. Sellers also finished the day third in points with a total of 13.

Leading SEU's offense was Simmons for the fourth game in a row with 35  points. Following Simmons in points was Eliza West with 15, Sellers with 13, and Raegan Linster and Trisha Jacobs with 11 each.

The Fire will be back in action on February 28th as they host the The Sun Conference Tournament Semifinal. The game is set to start at 3 p.m.