SE Athletics
Matt Thomas, Sports Information Director
DURANT – Southeastern saw its hopes for a repeat as Great American Conference Champions dashed as Southern Nazarene’s Cassandra Awatt connected on 2-of-3 free throws with 2.7 seconds to play, handing the Savage Storm a 58-56 loss in the conference championship game on Sunday afternoon in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
The loss drops SE to 13-8 on the season and the team will now have to await its postseason destiny until Sunday night’s NCAA Division II Selection Show.
Despite the loss, Southeastern outshot the Crimson Storm 45.5-to-35.7 percent overall from the field, with neither team having much success from long range, combining for seven threes total for the contest.
Katie Branam turned in a herculean effort in the fourth quarter, putting up 12 points in the frame and finishing the night with 17.
She was joined by Kamryn Cantwell and Jordan Benson who each turned in 15 points.
Cantwell and Branam would each pick up All-Tournament Team honors for their performances on the week of tournament play.
Benson would also wrap up her first double-double of the season with 10 rebounds to go with her 15 points, while SE held a 32-to-31 edge on the boards.
The Storm entered the fourth quarter trailing and SNU opened the frame with a three to take a five-point lead.
SE answered with a pair of Cantwell free throws and then back-to-back Branam bucket to take its first lead since early in the second quarter at 44-43 with 6:56 to play.
The Crimson Storm would tie the game, but a Branam three and a Cantwell layup would put Southeastern ahead 49-44 with 5:21 remaining.
SNU would again close the gap to just two points, but a Cantwell layup and another Branam three would give SE its largest lead of the day at56-49 with 2:12 left on the clock.
SNU would score with 1:47 on the clock and take advantage of a turnover to connect on a pair of free throws to close it to a one possession game.
After a second SE turnover in the final two minutes, Payton Jones would hit a three with 23 seconds left to tie the game at 56-56.
A third Storm turnover with 12 seconds left would prove costly as Awatt would pull up for a three with 2.7 seconds to play and was off the mark, but was given a second chance to score thanks to a foul call which awarded her three free throws.
She would connect on two of them, and SE was unable to get a shot off, leaving the final at 58-56.
Southeastern fell behind out of the gate, but closed the first quarter on a 7-0 run capped by a pair of Briley Moon free throws to take a 14-12 lead at the first quarter break.
SNU would answer, taking the lead and going up by eight points with 3:10 to play in the first half before the Storm again answered down the stretch with a 10-2 run capped by a Benson layup to go to the half tied at 28-28.
After one early tie and lead change, SE would never lead in the third quarter, seeing the deficit grow to as many as six point before again closing the distance late and heading to the fourth quarter down 40-38.