LAKELAND, Fla. – The Fire battled back late and pulled within a point with five minutes left, but Florida Memorial held on for the 59-49 women's basketball win in The Sun Conference opener at The Furnace.
Trailing by eight points after three quarters, SEU scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter behind Mya Herman and Courtni Demorest treys to cut the lead to one, 42-41. The Lions answered with a pair of buckets, while Jodi Mullins hit two pairs of free throws with the second set making it 53-49 with 43 seconds left. Florida Memorial sealed the win with its own two foul shots and a layup in 19 seconds.
SEU (5-2/0-1 Sun Conference) struggled to put anything together offensively in the second quarter, when they made only 1-of-13 shots from the floor, and shooting just 14-of-50 for the game. Florida Memorial also won the rebound battle, 45-28.
Mullins paced the Fire with 14 points, nine in the first quarter, to go with two assists and two steals. Herman made 5-of-10 attempts with a 3-pointer for 12 points, while she had four rebounds, four steals and two helpers. Anaya Coleman knocked down two treys as part of her 10-point, three-rebound and two-steal night.
Grace Field chipped in seven points, six boards and two steals. Demorest hit the fourth quarter 3-pointer and Ariana Smuda pulled in six rebounds.
Ebony Black-Smith led Florida Memorial with 12 points.
The Fire return to action on Wednesday, when they head to Brunswick, Ga. to face Coastal Georgia. Tip off is at 5:30 p.m..
