AVE MARIA, Fla. – The Fire couldn't wait to get back on the court, and it showed. Southeastern University used balanced scoring and eased past Ave Maria, 76-48, in their Sun Conference regular season finale today.
Tied at 9-9 only 3:36 into the contest, SEU ran off the final eight points of the first quarter and added the first two second-frame buckets for a 21-9 advantage. The Fire continued to build their lead to as many as 25 points, 59-34, by the end of the third quarter, never allowing the Gyrenes to get closer than 15 points in the second half.
The Fire (23-5) completed the season sweep over Ave Maria (11-16/7-9) after taking the first meeting in Lakeland, 84-70, on January 22. SEU has now won the last four in the series and Saturday was its first win at Ave Maria since a 55-51 victory back on January 20, 2022.
SEU moves on to the Sun Conference tournament at top-seeded Florida Memorial. Their first game will be Friday at 4 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday's Warner at St. Thomas game.
With both scoring 15 points, Anaya Coleman and Jodi Mullins led the Fire charge. Coleman handed out six rebounds and swiped two passes, while Mullins added two assists and two boards. Former Gyrene Grace Field was right behind with 14 points of her own on 6-of-9 shooting, grabbing 11 rebounds for a double-double to go with three steals and two assists.
Mya Herman chipped in an all-around nine points, five steals, four rebounds and four assists. Courtni Demorest chipped in eight points and a blocked shot.
Off the bench, all three of Alley Haas, Kassidy Jones and Rosa Redondo Sorribes contributed five points. Both Haas and Jones, who had two assists, had three rebounds, while Sorribes had three steals. Ariana Smuda added four rebounds.
Colleen Shanahan paced Ave Maria with a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds.
2025 Sun Conference Tournament Schedule:
Tuesday, February 25th
Game 1: #5 Ave Maria at #4 Keiser – 5:30 p.m.
Game 2: #6 Warner at #3 St. Thomas – 7:00 p.m.
Friday, February 28th at Florida Memorial
Game 3: Game 2 winner vs. #2 Southeastern – 4:00 p.m.
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. #1 Florida Memorial – 6:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 1st at Florida Memorial
Championship: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner – 4:00 p.m.
