MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The Fire held on and earned their fifth-straight championship game appearance. Despite going cold from the field down the stretch, Southeastern University fought off St. Thomas University for a 66-56 victory in the Sun Conference Semifinals on Friday.
Ariana Smuda laid in a bucket with 1:59 left in the third frame and gave SEU a 21-point lead, 54-33. It turned out to be the Fire's final field goal, but SEU hit key free throws down the stretch .
The Bobcats netted six of the final eight points of the third frame to cut the margin down to 56-39. After two Anaya Coleman free throws 36 seconds into the fourth quarter, SEU saw its lead evaporate as St. Thomas ran off 14-straight points and pulled within a bucket, 58-56, with 3:38 remaining. SEU locked down from there and forced St. Thomas into misfiring on its last 13 shots from the field. The Fire sealed the win from the charity stripe, sinking seven of their ten free throws over the last three minutes to seal the win.
With the victory, SEU (24-5) eliminates St. Thomas (19-9) in the semifinal round for the third year in a row. The Fire took the matchup last year in Lakeland by an 87-63 final and beat the Bobcats 101-93 in 2022-23.
SEU had a balanced scoring attack with four starters in double figures. Grace Field held the scoring edge with 11 points on 5-of-8 attempts to go with five rebounds and two assists.
Coleman made 5-of-6 free throws and a 3-pointer for 10 points, adding eight boards, two assists, and two steals. Mya Herman drained a pair of 3-pointers for 10 points and added four rebounds and two assists. Jodi Mullins had 10 points, four assists, and four rebounds.
Coming off the bench, Smuda and Kassidy Jones combined for 15 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Smuda had eight assists and three blocked shots, while Jones downed two treys and had three steals. Rosa Sorribes chipped in five points with two assists and Alley Haas had four rebounds and three points. Courtni Demorest pulled down seven rebounds and chipped in two points.
Joey Delancy guided St. Thomas with 18 points.
The Fire return to action tomorrow when they play for The Sun Conference Championship against Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens. Tip-off is at 4 p.m..
