No. 4 Southeastern Honors Graduating Class with Passionate Performance Versus Florida Memorial
LAKELAND, Fla. – On a night where the No. 4 Southeastern University women’s basketball team honored five graduating seniors, the Fire stifled the Florida Memorial University Lions 93-60 to secure their 59th consecutive win versus a Sun Conference opponent.
Coming into the contest, FMU was averaging 80.8 points per game in Sun Conference play. The Fire defense was tenacious throughout the night, holding the Lions to 20.8 points below their season average.
The Fire and the Lions exchanged blows in the opening period of play. Senior guard Jaycee Coe scored eight of her 14 points in the first quarter.
Junior center Marlena Schmidt was a force in the paint for SEU from the onset of the contest, hauling in eight of her 11 rebounds in the first 10 minutes.
The Fire started the first quarter on a 6-0 run, while the Lions ended the period on a 6-0 run of their own to trim the SEU lead to 21-18.
Southeastern used suffocating defense to build some separation in the second quarter. The Fire held the Lions to 23.5% (4-17) from the field in the period and used an 11-1 half-ending run to take a 45-30 lead into the intermission.
“I’m really proud of the girls for making an adjustment. When it comes time for the National Tournament, you have to be able to change the channel defensively when you come out against other highly-talented teams,” shared head coach Tim Hays. “I think we have three defenses right now we can play in any situation.”
The duo of Schmidt and Makenzie Cann proved to be the forces that propelled the Fire to a dominant win. Schmidt continued to own the paint, bucketing 11 points in the second half to push her game total to 20 and secure her third double-double of the season. Cann shot 3-5 from three-point range in the second half to deposit 13 of her 20 points in the final 20 minutes of action and was also one rebound away from a double-double herself.
The Lions never reduced the Fire lead to any less than 22 in the fourth quarter.
Senior forward Elsa Paulsson-Glantz totaled 12 points to accompany six rebounds and four assists. Fellow senior Halee Printz put on a clinic in ball distribution, tying her career-high in helpers for the third time this season at 12.
“This group of seniors has been special. Over the last year they have lost three games which is one of the most remarkable streaks in the country. They are phenomenal players and phenomenal people,” commented Hays.
The final honoree on Senior Night, Emma Karamovic totaled seven points and four rebounds. Freshman guard Regan Linster scored a career-high 15 for SEU, while totaling six rebounds.
The Fire close out the regular season on the road Saturday with a premier contest against receiving votes St. Thomas. Tip-off in Miami Gardens is slated for 5:30 p.m.
