LAKELAND, Fla.—Southeastern locked up the 3-point line and held Ave Maria to just 31.9% from the field in a 65-57 victory in women's basketball Thursday night at The Furnace.
The Fire overcame a four-point deficit to start the second quarter by holding the Gyrenes to just 2-of-13 from the field and held a 29-25 lead at halftime.
"The last five or six games, our defense has been stellar," said coach
Jay Butler. "It's been a combination of trusting the game plan and executing it."
Gabby Suarez was responsible for two of the made 3-pointers in the second quarter to help get Southeastern back on track and added another in the third quarter to push the Fire to a 35-31 lead with 4:38 left in the quarter to put an end to a 6-1 AMU run. It also sparked a 7-0 run by the Fire to push the lead to 8 on a layup by
Josselin Geer with 3:10 left in the third to go up 39-31.
Ave Maria got the deficit down to three with 6:14 to play at 48-45, but 3-pointers by Geer at the 5:56 mark and 5:24 mark of the fourth helped the Fire come away with the win.
As a team, Southeastern was 10-27 (37%) from 3-point range.
"We knew Ave Maria would play zone tonight and to open up the inside, you have to make some shots from the outside," said Butler. "It's always nice to knock a couple down to get started."
Geer finished with a game-high 22 points and added four rebounds, four steals, two assists and two blocks.
"When she made the first 3-pointer in the second half, she had a feeling of confidence and kept shooting," said Butler of Geer. "She's always stellar defensively, but tonight she got rolling offensively."
Suarez finished with 19 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Anja Knoflach added 16 points, connecting on three 3-pointers with eight rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.
The Fire will return to action next Thursday at Thomas University.
