MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Southeastern University's cold start was too much to overcome, as they we defeated by top-seed Florida Memorial, 89-63, in the Sun Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Championship game Saturday.
SEU could not get the lid off the bucket for the game's first 10:53 and found themselves in a deficit too large to dig out. Florida Memorial posted the game's first 10 points and raced to a 22-4 lead after one quarter. Mya Herman connected on the first Fire bucket, a 3-pointer, at 9:07 in the second quarter. SEU, though, saw the deficit climb each quarter until it won the final period, 20-13, but was unable to catch the top seed.
Despite the loss, SEU (24-6) has still won three of the last five Sun Conference Tournament titles, including last year's 84-72 victory over Ave Maria. Florida Memorial (24-4) made it two title wins over SEU in the last three years with a 98-85 win on its home court two years ago.
SEU's tough start can be seen with a 0 for 15 first quarter and it went to 16 shots before Herman's 3-pointer 53 seconds in the second period. The Fire improved to 4-for-10 in the second 10 minutes. Florida Memorial shot 53.5% for the night (38-of-71) and won the rebound battle, 43-25.
Anaya Coleman made 6 of her 14 field goals, including a 3-pointer, and all 14 of her free throws for 27 points, her season high. She added six rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a blocked shot.
Grace Field chipped in 10 points as the other double-digit scorer and blocked a pair of shots. Herman downed a pair of treys in her 8-point night, while Jodi Mullins also had eight points and two boards. Courtni Demorest added three points, three rebounds, and two assists. Alley Haas contributed five points and two rebounds, while Ariana Smuda had four points and three blocks off the bench.
Ebony Black-Smith led FMU with 23 points.
SEU had it biggest run of the day with 6:11 left in the game of a 9-0 surge.
The Fire will now wait to see if they will receive an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament. The First and Second Rounds are scheduled to take place on Friday and Saturday, March 14-15, with the field announced on March 6 at 7 p.m.
