Babson Park, Fla.—The No.1 Southeastern University women's basketball team continued their winning ways with a 72-59 win over the Webber International Warriors. The win moves the Fire's record to 23-2 overall, with a 15-0 mark in conference play. Taylah Simmons led the way with 17 points and ten rebounds, her fifth double-double of the season.
Webber gave everything the Fire could handle in this one as Southeastern couldn't stretch their lead above 12 points in the first half. Simmons got the Fire on the board first, converting a layup off an assist from Marlena Schmidt. Schmidt would add another assist later to go along with her ten-point, ten-rebound double-double.
M'caela Sellers' third 3-PT field goal of the first half and a layup from Raegan Linster gave the Fire a 12-point lead with 2:37 remaining in the half, but Webber would add a couple buckets to trim the advantage to just nine points as the teams headed for the locker rooms. Sellers ended the night with 12 points on 3-5 shooting from beyond the arc, five rebounds, and a steal.
Senior Eliza West sparked a 5-0 run for the Fire coming out of the break, assisting on a Linster three pointer, stealing the ball on the next defensive possession and converting the layup in transition. West was active all night with six points, six assists, four rebounds, and two steals.
Schmidt gave the Fire their largest advantage of 17 points with her layup early in the fourth quarter before Webber was able to trim their deficit to the final score of 72-59.
Southeastern shot 41.8% from the field in this one, their lowest clip since the season-opener, but showed they can win when things aren't clicking offensively. The Fire forced Webber into 16 turnovers, stealing the ball six times and blocking five of their shots.
The top ranked Fire face another road challenge in their next game when they travel to West Palm Beach, Fla. to take on the Keiser Seahawks at 5:30 pm on Thursday, February 13th.
