Fire Remain Undefeated in Conference Play

Lakeland, Fla.- The new year started off with a win for the Southeastern women's basketball team today as the Fire took down a Sun Conference competitor in the College of Coastal Georgia by a score of 75-55. With the conference win over the Mariners the Fire advanced to an overall record of 8-2 and a perfect 7-0 record in conference play.
 
Defense again would be the Fire's strong point today against the Mariners as the first quarter of play for the Fire would lend them a field goal percentage of only 33% but the Fire managed to force eight turnovers from the Mariners and record nine points from the ball handling errors. Haley Howarth got the Fire offense started with a good three pointer to open up the game and then went on to score three more points for the Fire within the first two minutes. Gabrielle Ozoude then scored the next four Fire points to go up 10-6 over the Mariners. The Fire went a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line in the first quarter and would end the first ten minutes leading the Mariners by a score of 19-12.
 
The Mariners scored first in the second quarter after a Fire foul but would be followed by a Bekki Kalaydjiev three pointer, layup, and good free throw to put the Fire ahead 25-15 with 6:24 remaining before the half. Carmen Handy then put together a seven point run for the Fire to help advance the lead to 15 going into the half. The Fire ended the second quarter 8-17 from the field.
 
The third quarter handed the Fire their largest lead of the night with 2:34 remaining as the Fire went ahead of the Mariners 59-33 after a good layup by Howarth which would set the Fire up to go into the last 10 minutes of play with a comfortable 19 point lead. The Fire ended the fourth quarter on two made free throws by Rebecca Cook to secure the 75-55 victory.
 
Ozoude finished the night with a double-double after securing 14 points and 10 rebounds in only 22 minutes of play. The Fire also had four other players with double digit points including Kalaydjieev with 16 points, Handy with 14, Madi Hecox with 13 including a 4-8 effort at the three point arc, and Howarth who registered 13 points and a team high seven assists. Jade Odom ended her 32 minutes of play with seven rebounds.
 
The Fire are back in action on Saturday, January 9^th at home in another Sun Conference matchup against Webber International University at 2 p.m.