SEU Women’s Basketball Advances to Title Game with Double OT Victory

by | Mar 12, 2019 | Basketball Blogs, Headlines, RRSN News | 0 comments

SIOUX CITY, Iowa—With heavy legs after 48 minutes of basketball, the Fire needed a big play to come away with a win in the national semifinal.

They got three on defense from a fifth-year senior.

In the final 90 seconds of double overtime, Makenzie Cann came up with two steals and a block to help Southeastern (31-2) advance to Tuesday’s national championship game with a 78-75 win over defending national champion Dakota Wesleyan.

It marks the first appearance in program history in the title game, and just the second championship game in University history.

With 1:29 left, Cann had a steal with her team down 73-72 and the Fire turned it into an Emma Karamovic layup to take a one-point lead with 1:05 to play. The Tigers regained the lead, but Halee Printz answered with a runner in the lane to put the Fire on top 76-75.

Printz had her highest-scoring game of the tournament with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a block, and a steal.

On the next possession, Cann recorded a steal and split a pair of free throws. She finished with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, and three steals.

“Makenzie down the stretch- so much heart,” said coach Tim Hays. “She didn’t have the type of night she wanted to offensively, but to come up with those two big defensive plays in double overtime after hardly being off the court made a difference.”

With a three-point lead, the Tigers (31-6) attacked the basket, but Cann came from the left side of the floor and erased Kaylee Kirk’s jumper.

“That block was for all my teammates and everything we’ve been through in the past,” said Cann. “All year long, we’ve had stretches where we haven’t shot well and relied on our defense. Even in double overtime where we are all tired, we all just came together; it just happened to be me that got the block.”

Reagan Linster then split a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game. A half-court heave by Kynedi Cheeseman, who led all scorers with 32, was wide right.

“Going through what we went through this year and battled through, I felt the guts and heart it took to get over the hump in two overtimes showed,” said Hays. “The moments where we could have put the game away, and missed a layup or a free throw, typically teams lose their momentum and heart and our team kept battling back.”

Elsa Paulsson-Glantz led the team in scoring with 16 points, and had three rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.

The Fire got off to a strong start, leading 9-0 just 2:55 into the game, marking the team’s largest lead of the night. Cann was responsible for six of those points, connecting on two 3-pointers. After a quarter of play, the Fire led 17-11.

Dakota Wesleyan won the second quarter, outscoring the Fire 18-16, but SEU held a 33-29 lead at the break. A slight edge in the third quarter gave the Fire a five-point lead to start the final 10 minutes.

Printz gave the Fire a 61-59 lead with a layup with 1:25 left, and the Fire forced a turnover, but were unable to take advantage. A basket in the lane by Cheeseman tied the game with eight seconds left to force the extra session.

Marlena Schmidt, who had her third double-double of the tournament with 13 points and 12 rebounds, put the Fire up 69-67 with 2:06 to go in OT, but the Fire were unable to take advantage of a DWU foul, and a miss. A pair of Sarah Carr free throws knotted the game at 69 with 48 seconds left. Both teams had shots in the final 20 seconds, but were unable to score a basket or get to the free throw line.

Jaycee Coe was also in double figures with 12 points, and added five rebounds and two steals.

The Fire will take on Concordia (Neb.) on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern for the title. The teams met December 29 in Phoenix with the Bulldogs winning 59-51.

Related Stories

Big Ten Weekly Men’s Basketball Central – Feb. 7-9

Big Ten. Big News. Entering this weekend’s action, Purdue sits atop the Big Ten standings at 10-2, owning a slim lead over both Michigan and Michigan State at 9-2. Wisconsin and UCLA enter the weekend at 8-4, while Maryland have won seven conference games. Nine teams...

Valpo U WBB falls to MVC-Leading Belmont

Beacons Fall to MVC-Leading Belmont   The Valpo women’s basketball team was unable to keep pace with MVC leader Belmont Friday evening in the Beacons’ return home to the ARC, as the visiting Bruins pulled away in the second half to a 69-41 victory.   How It...

Wisconsin men’s hockey blanked by Penn State

Wisconsin men's hockey blanked by Penn State Badgers’ 25 shots on goal not enough to crack PSU   MADISON, Wis. – A Penn State goal early in the first period proved to be the game-winner as the Wisconsin men's hockey team fell to the Penn State Nittany Lions, 2-0,...

No.7 Boilers MBB slap USC, 90-72

[7] Purdue 90, USC 72 (Postgame Notes) Purdue won its fourth straight game and moved to 19-5 overall and 11-2 in the Big Ten Conference with a 90-72 victory over USC on Friday night. Purdue is 11-2 in Big Ten play through 13 games for the third straight season. The...

IHSAA Girls Sectional Semi-Final Scores

IHSAA Girls Sectional Semi-Final Scores CLASS 4A Crown Point Lake Central 47 Munster 25 Hammond Central 67 Hammond Morton 51 Chesterton Chesterton 58 Merrillville 54 Valparaiso 62 Portage 22 LaPorte South Bend Riley 52 LaPorte 44 South Bend Washington 61 Michigan City...

NFF Hall of Famer Howard Twilley Passes Away

Howard Twilley, the 1992 College Football Hall of Fame inductee who starred at wide receiver for Tulsa from 1963-65, passed away Feb. 5. He was 81. "Howard Twilley was one of the greatest receivers in college football history with an uncanny ability to get open and...

Big Ten Weekly Women’s Basketball Central – Feb. 7-10

A top-10 battle is slated for Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on FOX when No. 8 Ohio State and No. 7 USC meet in Los Angeles. RV/NR Michigan and No. 20 Michigan State will face off for the second time this season on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on FS1. The remaining games will be...

IU WBB Rolls Past Rutgers, 81-60

IU Rolls Past Rutgers, 81-60   BLOOMINGTON, Ind.  –  Indiana hit a season-high 15 3-pointers as it led wire-to-wire in an 81-60 win over Rutgers on Thursday night inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.   KEY MOMENTS A pair of treys from graduate guards Sydney Parrish and...

Valpo Football Welcomes First Signing Class of Andy Waddle Era

Valpo Football Welcomes First Signing Class of Andy Waddle Era The Valparaiso University football program has announced the signing of 31 student-athletes, who will continue their academic and athletic endeavors at Valpo, the first recruiting class of the Andy Waddle...