DURANT, Okla. – The East Central University women's basketball team traveled South for a Great American Conference rivalry matchup against Southeastern Oklahoma State University. With the Tigers struggling to find their footing, they ultimately fell 50-30 on Thursday night inside the Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
 
The loss drops ECU to 7-14 overall and 3-14 in GAC play while Southeastern improves to 8-15 overall and 4-13 in conference play.
 
Southeastern opened the game with a three-pointer to take an early lead but Mackenzie Crusoe swiftly responded with one of her own to level the score. The Tigers and Storm remained neck-and-neck for a stretch, but midway through the first period, Southeastern managed to pull ahead with a double-digit lead, leaving ECU trailing 18-7.
 
The second quarter saw a scoring drought from both teams until the 6:28 mark when the Storm made a pair of free throws to extend their lead to 20-7. Southeastern's lead would grow as high as 20 points before a three-pointer by Natalie Payne put the Tigers back on the scoreboard. Although Crusoe embarked on an eight-point run, Southeastern maintained a comfortable lead of 29-18 heading into halftime.
 
Despite the Tigers' late scoring run, they struggled to bridge the gap over the next two quarters being held to single digits, resulting in the 50-30 final score in favor of Southeastern.
 
ECU's shooting performance hit a season-low of 19 % with 11 made field goals in the contest.
 
Mackenzie Crusoe led with 16 points going 6-for-15 from the floor including four three-pointers.
 
The ECU women's basketball team will look to bounce back this weekend as they prepare for their next GAC matchup against Southern Nazarene University on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 1 pm.