PHOENIX, Ariz.—The Fire women’s basketball team got back to its winning ways by defeating NAIA Division I No. 21 Arizona Christian by a score of 82-67 on Saturday afternoon. The wire-to-wire win, which snapped a two-game losing skid, helped Southeastern improve to 12-2 on the season.
SEU immediately went on a 7-0 run to open the game, leading by seven points just 53 seconds in. Elsa Paulsson-Glantz notched five of those seven points for Southeastern, who made ten of their initial 12 shots from the field. The Fire shot 11-15 (73.3%) in the opening frame to take a 27-13 advantage after one quarter.
Turnovers plagued ACU’s offense for the entirety of the contest, but were especially costly early. The Fire were able to capitalize on 11 takeaways throughout the first half, turning those mistakes into 20 points.
Thanks to tough defense and efficient shooting, SEU led 55-25 at the break. Southeastern made 63.9% (23-36) of its attempts over the first two quarters compared to ACU’s mere 26.9% (7-26).
Paulsson-Glantz (18), Marlena Schmidt (11) and Makenzie Cann (10) all ended the first half in double digits.
Courtney Christmas scored a game-high 22 points for ACU as the Firestorm narrowed the 30-point margin in the second half; however, Arizona Christian was unable to get any closer than ten points down the stretch.
Paulsson-Glantz ended the day with 20 points and 11 rebounds, collecting her second straight double-double, while Cann and Schmidt added 18 and 15 points, respectively. Cann also contributed with seven assists. Jaycee Coe rounded out SEU players in double figures with ten points, as the Fire closed out the competition with a 15-point advantage.
Overall, the Fire contained Arizona Christian, who shot just 32.4% (23-71) from the field and 20.0% (5-25) from three. Southeastern finished 55.9% of its opportunities, the best shooting percentage in the last four games for the Fire.
SEU will now begin Sun Conference play with a contest at Thomas University to ring in the new year. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on January 3.
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