HELENA, Mont.- The Southeastern University women's basketball team was able to keep pace ahead of the Carroll College Fighting Saints all night. The Fire earned an impressive 67-60 early season win to improve to 2-0 on the season.
SEU graduate shooting guard
Marta Aranda helped set the tone early for the Fire, scoring seven of her 10 points on the night in the first quarter. The Fire shot 60% (6-10) from the field through the first 10 minutes of play to hold a 15-13 advantage over Carroll after one.
The Fire locked down the Fighting Saints defensively in the second quarter, holding CC to 2-14 (14.3%), including 0-7 from three-point range throughout the period. Holding Carroll to just six points in the second quarter helped propel Southeastern to a 29-19 advantage heading into halftime.
After scoring just three points in the first half, graduate shooting guard
Haley Howarth lit up the court in the second half, shooting 5-6 from the field, including 3-4 from behind the arc. Howarth finished with a team-leading 16 points on the night.
The Fire opened up the fourth quarter on a 13-5 run to earn their largest lead of the contest, a 60-42 advantage with 6:34 to go in the period. However, Carroll responded with a 9-0 run of their own to trim the Southeastern lead to 60-51 with 4:24 remaining.
The Fighting Saints came within six points of the Fire lead down the stretch, however, three made free throws by senior small forward
Leilah Vigil helped cement the 67-60 Fire win.
SEU graduate center
Angela Perry came within a point of a double-double, scoring 11 points and hauling in nine boards. Vigil finished with nine points and four rebounds. Aranda dished out six assists to accompany her double-digit scoring effort.
On the night, the Fire limited their turnover total to an astounding three.
Southeastern looks to go 3-0 on the season-opening road trip, as the Fire face the Montana Tech Orediggers tomorrow afternoon in Butte at 4:00 p.m. eastern.
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