A magical late season run by the Southeastern women’s basketball team came to a heartbreaking finish on Sunday with a 71-64 loss to Northwestern in the Great American Conference tournament championship game.
The Savage Storm finished the year with an 18-13 record as their only two defeats in the final 15 games of the season were at the hands of Northwestern. That strong push included a 78-72 win over Henderson State and 67-64 triumph against 18th ranked Harding to reach the title tilt.
Southeastern’s men came out on the short end of a 77-59 decision against Harding in their tournament opener.
Women
It took a late push for Southeastern to claim the victory in the opener against Henderson State as they trailed 72-70 with just over a minute remaining.
Akiera Hawk canned a three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining and Kenzli Warden sank five straight free throws to ice it as the Savage Storm scored the game’s final eight points.
Southeastern’s pressure defense proved invaluable as they scored 16 points off 11 Reddie turnovers while allowing just two.
Warden was nearly unstoppable in making 12 of 25 from the field for 35 points to go along with eight rebounds. Freshman Tori Kilburn meanwhile provided her normal consistent performance with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Hawk also pitched in 10 points.
The recipe for success against Harding was building a big first half advantage for the Southeastern women.
They led 18-17 through one period and pushed that margin to 34-25 at half and 52-40 after three stanzas.
Things got a bit dicey as the Bisons erased almost all of an eight-point deficit with 1:18 remaining. Missed free throws opened the door for Harding but a missed trey with three seconds left allowed Southeastern to survive and advance.
Kilburn was spectacular around the paint, hitting seven of 10 field goal tries for 19 points as well as a massive 16 rebounds. Warden played all 40 minutes once again and posted 19 points. Katie Allen was just shy of double figures with nine points.
Southeastern ran out to the first five points of the championship game but Northwestern responded to surge ahead with 5:36 left in the opening frame and never trailed again.
It was 19-16 after one quarter, 36-27 at halftime and 49-44 heading into the final period.
Kilburn was the lone Savage Storm player to connect for double figures as she poured in 27 points and yanked down eight rebounds. Mackenzie Espinosa had nine and Warden chipped in eight points.
Men
Second chance points and scoring in the paint was too much for Southeastern to overcome as Harding controlled the boards from the start.
The Bisons led 31-25 despite a valiant Savage Storm effort in the opening half but they weren’t able to withstand a Harding barrage that included 46 points following the halftime break.
Sophomore Ethan Wilkerson had a strong outing, hitting 10 of 17 field goal attempts for 26 points but was the lone Southeastern player to reach double figures.
Augusto Toledo tallied nine and Chandler Dickinson added eight points.