DURANT, Okla. – SWOSU Women's Basketball laced up the shoes for the first time in the new year when they suited up for a conference game against Southeastern Oklahoma State. After a close three quarters, the Lady Bulldogs were not able to match the Savage Storm's scoring output in the fourth quarter and fell 62-48.
The first quarter saw the Lady Dawgs able to capitalize on second chance points (4) and points off turnovers (6) to make this a tightly contested 18-17 match in favor of the Storm early on. Layni Zinn, who picked up an early two fouls in the game and only played four minutes, managed to produce a team high seven points on 2-3 shooting with the only three pointer of the quarter for the Lady Dawgs.
Inside the second quarter the Lady Bulldogs were able to go 7-of-15 from the field compared to just 3-7 for the home team, leading to winning the quarter 15-13 in points and taking a 32-31 lead into the break. SWOSU won the turnover battle 7-3 in the frame and caused three offensive fouls which helped limit shot production for SEOSU.
SWOSU lost the free throw battle inside the first half, but both teams shot perfect from the line. It was the Storm who capitalized with the 10-4 advantage including six in the second quarter.
After halftime, SWOSU was able to start quick thanks to a couple of layups from Chole Cantrell and Layni Zinn to take their largest lead of the game at 36-31 after SEOSU started 0-6 from the field to start the half. Southeastern then caught an offensive rhythm, going on an extended 12-6 run to hold a one-point lead at 43-42 going into the final frame.
That run would continue for the Savage Storm after an 11-0 spurt in the first six minutes of the final quarter which put the Lady Dawgs to rest. SWOSU would not make a field goal in the quarter until the 1:22 mark thanks to an and-one layup made by Averi Zinn. SWOSU was 0-11 before that basket and finished 1-14 in the quarter.
Averi Zinn led the way with 12 points and three steals for the Lady Dawgs. Layni Zinn added 11 as the only other player in double digits for SWOSU.
Final numbers had SWOSU shooting just 32.2% (19-59) from the field and just 10.5% (2-19) from beyond the arc. SEOSU finished at 34.8% (16-46) and 26.3% (5-19) from three-point land.
The main difference game from the free throw line, The Storm shot 25-27 (92.6%) to SWOSU's just 8-9 (88.9%). The free throws made (25) and attempted (27) are both season highs for the Storm and most allowed by the Lady Dawgs by a wide margin.
SWOSU (6-6, 2-4 GAC) will be back in action on Thursday, January 9 in Arkadelphia, Arkansas against Henderson State at 5:30 pm. They'll play across the street on Saturday (Jan. 11) against Ouachita Baptist to close out the road trip.
