LAKELAND, Fla.—Southeastern struggled to get its offense going in a 74-72 exhibition loss to NCAA Division II Concordia-St. Paul during the first game of the SEU Thanksgiving Classic.
The Fire were just 6-of-34 from 3-point range which included going 1-for-17 from bonus range in the first half and trailed by 11 with 2:04 remaining in the first quarter and by 10 at the end of the period.
SEU outscored Concordia 18-11 in the second and cut the deficit to three at halftime. After falling behind seven in the third, Southeastern battled to tie the game with 2:26 left in the period, then took the lead at the 1:57 mark of the quarter with
Tahanee Bennell scoring five points during an 8-0 run.
Bennell scored seven of the team's final 10 points after the Fire trailed by seven with just over a minute to play. SEU also had a chance to force overtime on the final possession, but Bennell's contested layup came up short. She finished with a team-high 16 points and had seven steals and two rebounds in 34 minutes.
In her first start of the season
Raegan Linster had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Angela Perry also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Rebecca Cook added 10 points and a pair of steals in 22 minutes.
The Fire will take on Bemidji State in an exhibition in the final game of the classic on Saturday at 5 p.m.
