SIOUX CITY, Iowa—Southeastern plays for its fourth trip to the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship quarterfinals on Thursday when it takes on Bethel (Tenn.) at 2 p.m. Eastern.
The Fire are the top overall seed in the 64-team tournament which was pared down to 16 during last weekend's opening rounds at 16 sites across the country. Southeastern won the Lakeland Bracket with a 77-45 win over Xavier (La.) then a 66-62 win over Rust.
This is the fifth consecutive season the Fire have advanced to the Round of 16 and are looking to avenge last season's loss in this stage.
Depth and defense have been two big keys as of late. The 62 points Rust scored on Saturday were the most an SEU opponent has scored since January 29
th. This season, Fire opponents have averaged just 55.5 points per game, commit 24.5 turnovers per game, and shoot just 28.6% from 3-point range.
Rebecca Cook has been a major key to the defense with a block and two steals against Rust and had 11 rebounds. Cook posted six offensive rebounds in a game for the second time this season.
Starting with the conference tournament, the depth started to shine through with balanced scoring efforts. Each of SEU's four postseason has had a different player featured as the leading scorer. In 16 of the prior 27 games, Sun Conference Player of the Year
Angela Perry was the team's leading scorer.
Perry led the way against Rust with 14 points, but
Gabby Suarez led the way against Xavier with 15.
Marta Aranda scored 22 against Ave Maria in The Sun Conference semifinal, and
Leilah Vigil had a team-high 18 against Webber International in the final.
When Perry clocked 24 minutes against Rust, it was her first game with more than 20 minutes played since February 17
th.
Bethel is the No. 12 seed in the Naismith Quadrant and earned a trip to Sioux City by winning the Omaha Bracket by upsetting the No. 5 seed St. Xavier and the No. 4 seed Dakota Wesleyan.
The Wildcats are also sound defensively with opponents scoring just 58.9 points per game against this season. Ryann Roberts is a threat from outside, having connected on 62 3-pointers. Mickey Head is a player to watch inside and is approaching 1,000 career points and 300 career blocks. Millie Bryant is the team's leading scorer at 13.7 points per game and is just the 10
th player in program history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
Thursday's winner will advance to the quarterfinal round against either Carroll (Mont.) or Morningside (Iowa) on Saturday at 2 p.m. Eastern.
Live video of each game is available for purchase on the NAIA Network. Live stats for each game are also available. Follow @SEUFireWBB on Twitter for additional updates.
