Returning home turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for the Southeastern women’s basketball team as they notched their first two victories of the season with impressive performances last week at Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
The Savage Storm caught fire from the perimeter in a 94-64 thumping of Cameron and then were strong on the boards for an 86-74 triumph against Arkansas-Fort Smith.
Coach Darin Grover’s club got off to a blazing start in the Cameron contest, setting the tone for the game by canning its opening six three point attempts while racing to a commanding 33-14 advantage after one stanza.
They cooled a bit after that but still managed a whopping 17 three pointers for the game while completely squelching any Aggie hopes of a comeback. The Savage Storm were also tremendous defensively, forcing 24 turnovers which directly resulted in another 26 points. Southeastern was in front 53-23 at intermission and extended the margin to as much as 83-44 through three stanzas with reserves playing throughout the final period.
The Savage Storm spread around the three point shooting wealth as 11 different players sank at least one long range bomb.
Five Southeastern players reached double figures led by freshman Tori Kilburn led the charge with 18 points on six of 11 shooting along with seven rebounds.
Katie Allen hit three treys and posted 13 points with Kenzli Warden and Abbie Barr contributing 11 apiece along with 10 from Mackenzie Espinosa.
Consistency was the story for the Savage Storm against Fort Smith as they did a sensational job of overcoming a big size edge by the visitors. Offensively they poured in 22 points in the first frame, 21 in the second, 21 in the third and 22 in the fourth quarter.
While they weren’t quite as hot from three-point range, Grover’s squad still sank 11 from downtown, including five in the opening frame to stake them to the early lead. They also posted a 43-35 rebounding advantage against the taller visitors.
Kilburn was outstanding again, contributing a team-high 24 points as well as a double-double with 10 rebounds. Espinosa chipped in a second double-double as she tallied 10 points and 10 boards.
Warden connected on a pair of three pointers and 22 points in the contest.
“For us to be able to come up with rebounds like we did against their bigs was impressive,” Grover commented. “We made a defensive adjustment in the second quarter and were able to keep them in front of us and extend the lead. I don’t know how long the three point shooting prowess will last so we have to keep getting the ball inside and score around the basket to be successful.”
The Savage Storm women are slated to visit Midwestern State and Northeastern this week before starting Great American Conference play on the road next week in Arkansas against Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist.
