DURANT, OKLA. – The East Central University women's basketball team made it a season sweep over arch rival Southeastern Oklahoma State, with a 70-60 road Great American Conference victory.
Photo GalleryThe win was key to keeping the chances alive to advance to the 2016 GAC Championship, March 3-6 in Bartlesville, Okla., as ECU entered the game seventh in the standings, where eight teams advance to the tournament.
The Tigers (9-13, 9-9 GAC) were led by sophomore
Tori Huff, who tallied a career-best 17 points and two steals. Huff was one of three players for ECU with double-digit point totals, with sophomore
Alexa Adair adding 12 and junior
Courtney Cowan 10. Junior
Jalyn Jackson had a strong night on the glass, recording a career-high 17 rebounds.
The teams traded the first two shots of the game, but then the Savage Storm (12-12, 10-8 GAC) went on a 5-0 run in the first three minutes of the game to take the lead. ECU fought back with a 12-2 run of its own, over the next four minutes, to push out to a 14-9 advantage. SE ended the stanza with a 5-3 run, but the Tigers still lead 17-14.
In the first four minutes of the second quarter, ECU added a 10-2 run to extend the lead to nine (27-16). The Savage Storm tried to cut into the disadvantage, but could only score five-straight points in the next minute. The teams then traded shots for two minutes, but it was a Tigers' 8-1 run that gave them a 39-27 lead at the half.
ECU started the third quarter by not allowing SEOSU to score a field goal for the first five minutes, but allowed seven free throws during the span, while scoring 10 points of their own (49-34). When the Savage Storm got going, they rattled off eight-straight points and finished the quarter with a 10-3 run for a 52-44 score.
The Tigers opened the final stanza with an 8-1 run, in the first two minutes, which increased the lead to 15 (60-45). SEOSU was able to cut the lead to nine, with a 6-2 run, but ECU kept the lead between seven and 10 points the rest of the game to earn the 70-60 victory.
Three-point shooting was the name of the game for the Tigers, as they hit a season-high 14 triples and only allowed five by the Savage Storm.
ECU will finish up its three-game road swing, Thursday, Feb. 18 when they travel to Bethany, Okla., to face Southern Nazarene at 5:30 p.m.