ADA, Okla. – On an electrifying rivalry night within the Great American Conference, the East Central University women's basketball team hosted Southeastern Oklahoma State University. While the first half witnessed a closely contested match, the Tigers faced a setback in the third quarter, ultimately resulting in a 59-46 loss on Thursday night.
"We had plenty of open opportunities to make shots," Head Coach Heather Hurt said. "Credit Southeastern for executing defensively. We have to step up offensively and make shots."
In the initial three minutes of the game, both teams exchanged points and leads. However, a three-pointer by
Kate Ogle sparked a 7-0 run, propelling the Tigers to a 12-6 lead midway through the opening quarter. Southeastern would close the gap to within one point on three occasions, but ECU maintained control, leading 18-15.
The second quarter was sluggish, with only one field goal made from either team within the first five minutes. The Savage Storm would eventually knot the score at 22-all with 4:10 left to play in the half, but
Chloe Malone's jumper would conclude the quarter with the Tigers holding a 24-22 edge heading into halftime.
Out of the break, ECU extended their lead to four points with Mackenzy Herman's jumper, but a 12-3 scoring run by Southeastern allowed the Savage Storm to break away, taking a 34-29 lead at the 4:38 mark. Going into the final stanza, the Tigers found themselves trailing 39-31.
The Tigers initiated a comeback in the fourth quarter with a 7-3 scoring run to close the gap to four points trailing 42-38, but that would be as close as ECU would get as Southeastern controlled the remaining minutes to eventually secure the 59-46 win.
Despite shooting 57.14% from the field in the opening period, a cold shooting second and third quarter resulted in the Tigers to hit 34% overall while Southeastern shot 42.6%.
Natalie Payne and
Mackenzie Crusoe led the scoring effort, with Payne posting 11 points while Crusoe added 10.
The ECU women's basketball team will return to action this weekend when they make a trek to Alva to face Northwestern Oklahoma State University on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 1 pm.
