SEU Women’s Basketball Drops Contest to Warriors

LAKELAND, Fla.—For the first time in nearly three years, the Fire women’s basketball team was defeated during the regular season. A 60-55 loss to No. 6 Indiana Tech on Friday afternoon snapped the 64-game regular season win streak as SEU moved to 11-1 on the season.
Southeastern struggled to score early in the contest, which contributed to a 17-4 Warriors’ run to start the game. After one quarter of play, the Fire trailed ITech 17-6 thanks to just 20.0% shooting and an 0-8 performance from deep. The six points tied the lowest output in any quarter by SEU this season.
Following a tough shooting quarter, Southeastern stepped up in the next two frames. The Fire outscored the Warriors 20-10 in the second ten minutes, improving on their shooting percentage by over 20% (42.1%, 8-19 FG). Senior transfer Makenzie Cann scored eight of SEU’s 20 points in the second period, as the team cut a 13-point deficit to a single point at the break (27-26).
In the second half, the Fire and the Warriors traded the lead four times, with neither team taking more than a four-point advantage. SEU took its first lead with 8:43 to go in the third on a three by Halee Printz, which helped Southeastern even the contest at 41 with only ten minutes to go.
Although Southeastern fought to remain in the competition, Indiana Tech utilized hot shooting to control the game down the stretch. The Warriors shot 46.2% from the field and 50.0% from downtown in the second half, which allowed ITech to take the competition by five. Overall, Indiana Tech converted on 41.4% (24-58 FG) of its field goals compared to SEU’s mere 30.9% (21-68 FG).
Cann finished as the sole Fire player in double figures with 16 points, while DeAnn Kauffman (16), Bella Lozano-Dobbs (15) and Kendall Kanpke (12) each contributed for the Warriors. Emma Karamovic added nine points and eight rebounds off the bench for Southeastern.
The defeat also marked the first time since December 2nd, 2015 that the Fire dropped a game on their home floor. SEU had won 42 straight in the Furnace since a defeat to Webber over three years ago.
Southeastern will now head to Arizona Christian to compete in the ACU Holiday Classic. The Fire are scheduled to take on No. 3 Concordia University on Friday at 5 p.m. before facing host No. 21 Arizona Christian at the same time on Saturday.