No. 5 Southeastern Stifles Keiser in The Furnace
LAKELAND, Fla. – For the fourth consecutive meeting, the Fire held the Seahawks under 50 points. The No. 5 Southeastern University Fire used a monstrous third quarter to upend the Keiser University Seahawks 89-41 to improve to 12-0 in Sun Conference play and secure its 54th consecutive victory over a TSC opponent.
Senior forward Elsa Paulsson-Glantz got things going for the Fire on the offensive glass, scoring all nine of her first-half points in the first quarter.
Senior guard Makenzie Cann totaled seven points in the opening period, helping SEU take a 23-8 lead over KU through the first 10 minutes of action.
Despite being outscored 12-10 in the second quarter, the Fire shot 50% from the field in the first half to take a 33-20 lead at halftime.
SEU came out of the locker room revved up, opening the third quarter on a 19-2 run.
The defensive pressure of the Fire smothered the Seahawks in the second half. SEU scored 26 points off of 15 second-half KU turnovers.
“I feel like we played 100% consistent defense for all four quarters tonight. It was great to see different girls step up and get us going,” shared head coach Tim Hays.
Senior point guard Halee Printz came alive for the Fire in the second half, recording eight of her 10 points and distributing seven of her 10 assists in the second 20 minutes of play.
Paulson-Glantz scored 16 of her game-leading 25 points in the second half. The Lulea, Sweden native scored 22 of her 25 points in the paint and also added seven steals.
On the night, Southeastern outscored Keiser an astounding 44-12 in the paint.
The Fire grew their lead to as many as 50 in the final quarter of play.
Cann finished the night with 19 points, eight assists, six rebounds, and four steals. Senior small forward Emma Karamovic totaled 16 points in her start.
The Fire hit the road this weekend for a contest at Johnson & Wales Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.