GAC Communications
Eric Moyer
FORT SMITH, Arkansas – Southeastern Oklahoma State withstood a furious fourth-quarter comeback attempt from top-seeded Southern Nazarene to collect a 71-70 victory in Saturday’s opening Great American Conference Women’s Basketball Championships semifinal contest from Southside Arena.
Sports presented by Indian Nation Wholesale.
The Savage Storm (20-10) held a 69-58 lead with 3:36 remaining but did not make another field goal the rest of the contest. Conversely, the Crimson Storm (23-7) scored on six-straight possessions. Free throws from Katie King pulled them to within one with 24.7 seconds left.
A trapping Crimson Storm defense forced a Savage Storm turnover with 16.4 seconds left. Southern Nazarene got up three potential go-ahead shots but a 3-point try from Braci Nyberg and putback attempts from King and Umi Otsuka all missed.
One day after setting a career high with 16 rebounds, Southeastern’s Kenzli Warden poured in a career-high 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting. First-Team All-GAC selection Caitlin Kobiske scored 16 of her 19 points in the second half.
In the defeat, GAC Player of the Year Hannah Giddey tallied 23 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.
The victory gave the Savage Storm three victories all-time against GAC top seeds. In 2012, they topped Arkansas Tech in the quarterfinals. In 2021, they again beat the Golden Suns, that year in the semifinals. The league’s 11 other teams own just a 4-30 tournament record against No. 1 seeds.
The win earns Southeastern Oklahoma State its third trip to the GAC title game. They made the final in consecutive years – winning in 2020 and losing to Southern Nazarene in 2021. The Savage Storm will face Harding or Northwestern OKlahoma State at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday. They split their regular season contests against both the Lady Bisons and Rangers as the Savage Storm beat both at home.