LAKELAND, Fla.—The Southeastern women's basketball team fought hard against No. 11 Carroll in its final game before Christmas but fell short in a 62-53 loss Tuesday afternoon at The Furnace.
The Fire (6-7) started strong holding Carroll to just 4-of-16 from the field in the first quarter and held a 15-9 lead, going 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
Anja Knoflach scored 11 of her team-high 16 points in the first quarter. Southeastern struggled with turnovers in the second quarter helping Carroll cut into the deficit. The Saints (9-4) went 7-of-10 from the field in the second 10 minutes and scored seven of their 17 points off of SEU turnovers to lead 26-25 at halftime.
In the second half, Carroll forward Jamie Pickens scored 10 of her game-high 18 points going 5-of-9 from the field. Despite falling behind by five at the 5:23 mark of the third quarter, SEU came back to tie the game at 36 on a Knoflach 3-pointer with 3:29 left but the Saints answered with a 10-0 run to take their first double-digit lead of the game with 18 seconds left in the period on a three-point play by Genesis Wilkinson.
A 3-pointer at the buzzer by
Emilia Sexton off of an offensive rebound by
Madison Vaira got the Fire within seven (46-39) to start the fourth.
Sexton then made it a five-point game on a pair of free throws to start the quarter as a result of a technical foul, but a turnover kept SEU from making it a one-possession game. The Saints pushed the lead to 11 with 3:00 to play on a jumper by Sienna Swannack to go up 57-46. Her 3-pointer with 2:05 left gave Carroll its biggest lead of the day at 12 (60-48).
A three-point play by Kiki Britzman helped close the deficit in the final minute of play.
Southeastern finished the game 46.8% from the field and connected on six 3-pointers. Carroll in the second half was 50% from the field and 3-of-7 on its 3-point attempts. Additionally,, the Saints held the Fire to just two offensive rebounds and three second chance points.
Sexton finished with 13 points, and led the team in rebounds and assists with eight and three, respectively.
Josselin Geer also added three assists and was a big contributor on defense with seven rebounds, four steals, and two blocks.
Gabby Suarez added 11 points, four rebounds, and two assists.
The Fire will return to action on December 29
th at Westmont.
