LAKELAND, Fla.—An 0-for-16 showing from 3-point range in the second half created too big of a deficit for Southeastern in its women's basketball game Thursday night against St. Thomas with second-place in The Sun Conference on the line.
Strong shooting in the first half helped the Fire overcome 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, trailing 49-45 at halftime. A 7-for-12 first quarter which included making 5-of-6 from 3-point land helped the Fire lead by four with 5:46 left in the first quarter but the Bobcats made up the difference at the free throw line going 6-of-6 to lead 26-21 after the first.
St. Thomas connected on 5-of-10 from 3-point range in the second quarter. Brooke Bogatz scored 15 of her game-high 33 during the second to help the Bobcats take control of the game.
Southeastern struggled coming out of the locker room, missing its first five shots to spark a 5-0 run by STU to start the second and build an 11-point lead with 4:04 left in the third at 60-49. The Fire missed all 10 of its third quarter 3-point attempts and shot just 3-of-18 (16.7%) in the period and trailed 65-56 to start the final 10 minutes.
In the fourth, the Fire focused on attacking the basket and midrange jumpers and got within five (79-74) with 3:44 remaining after back-to-back baskets by
Josselin Geer, then within four at 82-78 with 2:02 left on another jumper by Geer. Geer dialed in 14 of her 23 points during the fourth.
Britzmann also added 23, going 8-of-15 from the field and 7-of-9 at the free throw line. Suarez, Britzmann, and Geer had seven rebounds each to lead the team.
Emilia Sexton had a team-high seven assists.
The Fire will travel to first-place Florida Memorial on Saturday.
