Women's Basketball Draws Xavier in National Championship Opening Round Final

Lakeland, Fla.- After clinching the Sun Conference Tournament Championship title with their 93-54 victory over St. Thomas University, the No. 10 Southeastern University women's basketball team is set to compete in the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship Opening Round as the top-seeded team in the Lakeland Bracket A. The Fire host third-seeded Xavier University of Louisiana, who defeated second-seeded Benedictine College 58-45 last night, at 7:30 p.m. in The Furnace tonight.
 
GAME:
 
Saturday | 7:30 p.m. | No. 1 Southeastern (25-2) vs. No. 3 Xavier (13-6) | The Furnace
 
 
COVERAGE:
 
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The Fire strung together an impressive offensive performance in the conference championship matchup against the Bobcats where they shot 52% from the field and recording 14 three pointers collectively. Haley Howarth shot over 50% from behind the three-point arc going 6-11 and recording 21 points. Point guard Bekki Kalaydjiev recorded a season high 26 points behind her perfect 5-5 three-point effort while going 10-13 from the field. Gabrielle Ozoude secured a double-double after grabbing 12 rebounds and registering 16 points.
 
As a team, the Fire rank number one in the nation in scoring margin and number two in total steals. The Fire are currently recording 80.7 points per game while allowing only 51.1 per game and are shooting 46.5% from the field with 7.7 three pointers per contest. Defensively, the Fire have registered 42.9 rebounds per game and have forced 23.3 turnovers per game.
 
Da'Jha Virgil led the way for the Gold Nuggets in their win last night, scoring 17 points coming off the bench which exceeded her season average of 6.5 points per game coming into the contest.