AVE MARIA, Fla.—Southeastern shot just 32% and were unable to capitalize of off Ave Maria's miscues in a 66-53 loss to Ave Maria in its women's basketball game Saturday afternoon.
The Fire (9-5, 0-1 SUN) especially struggled with their 3-point shooting, going just 3-of-21 (14%) on the day.
A 4-0 lead turned into a five-point advantage at the 5:33 mark at 7-2 on the only triple of the quarter by the Fire off the hands of
Bekki Kalaydjiev to give the guests their biggest lead of the day. The Gyrenes closed the quarter with a 7-2 run to get within a point.
Ave Maria took its biggest lead of the first half with just 56 seconds left at 29-23, but Southeastern was able to rally and tie the game on a fastbreak layup by
Kiki Britzmann and a layup by
Mya Herman off of a steal by
Rebecca Cook, then a pair of free throws by Britzmann with four seconds left.
Britzmann led the offense with a team-high 14 points and added six rebounds and a pair of steals.
The outside shooting was the difference in the third quarter as the hosts connected on five of its six 3-point attempts and the Fire went 0-for-5 from bonus range, falling behind 11 with 10 minutes left.
A 3-pointer by Kalaydjiev at the 6:32 mark of the fourth got the game back to single digits at 57-48 but were unable to pair stops with baskets to get any closer.
Kalaydjiev finished with 13 points and had five assists. Herman was also in double figures with 11 points.
Cook had a team-high eight rebounds and four steals.
The Fire will host Keiser on Wednesday in their second Sun Conference game.
