The Savage Storm will host Southwestern Oklahoma in a 5:30 p.m. doubleheader Thursday in Bloomer Sullivan Arena.
A Saturday visit to East Central for another 5:30 p.m. doubledip will close out the regular season.
The first Great American Conference tournament tips off Thursday, March 1, in Bruin Fieldhouse on the campus of Bartlesville High School.
Coach Darin Grover’s gals and coach Kelly Green’s guys have clinched spots in this historic event. This has not been the season most fans would have predicted for either team, but one saying remains true:
If you can get in it, you can win it.
With two regular-season games remaining, each of Southeastern’s teams can finish 8-8 in the GAC by sweeping.
Both women and men could go into tournament play on three-game win streaks by defeating Southwestern here and East Central there this week.
FOR WHATEVER reason, the ladies have lacked shooting consistency this season. The longest win streak has been two games, on three occasions. Losing streaks show four twice and three once.
The gals knocked off Harding 87-68 Saturday in Sullivan Arena, shooting 44.8 percent from the field with 51.7 percent on 15 of 29 from beyond the arc. SE is now 10-14 overall and 6-8 in the GAC.
Nikki Nester swished eight of 10 treys and totaled 28 points to lead the way. Jessica Hesse hit five of six from the field and scored 11. Bailey Welch was in double figures with 14 points and six of six at the line.
SW is second in the GAC, trailing only Arkansas Tech (No. 14 in the WBCA). A win over the Lady Bulldogs (10-4) would be huge for the Storm. EC is struggling this year at 5-9 in league play.
A pair of wins this week could give Southeastern a more favorable opening game in the tournament.
The Storm have three in double figures with Nester at 11.8, Whitney Coffey 10.8 and Ashley Hobbs at 10.6 ppg.
Welch has dished out 113 assists this season and Nester is second with 96.
Hobbs is the leading rebounder with 6.6 and Coffey is next at 4.9 rpg.
Five of the eight tournament teams have been determined. The remaining three spots will be determined this week with Henderson State, Arkansas-Monticello and East Central in the running.
THE STORM MEN seem to have saved the best for last and that can certainly be a good thing.
Southeastern drilled Harding 96-79 Saturday to make it 10-16 overall and 6-8 in the GAC.
Harding is third in the league standings and shot a highly acceptable 47.6 percent from the field.
The Storm saw that number and raised it 15.4 percent to a mind-blowing 63 percent for the game.
It wasn’t just one of those halves where a team threw up five shots and made all five. The Storm shot 62.1 percent in the first half on 18 of 29, then nailed 16 of 25 for 64 percent in the second half.
Southeastern also blistered the 3-point line, nailing 54.2 percent on 13 of 24.
Ivan Johnson dished out a school-record 14 assists and four players were in double figures with Steven Kohli’s 22 points leading the charge.
Zac Downing added 19 with five of eight treys, James Harris scored 18 and Chris Roussell scored 12 points while leading the team with eight rebounds.
A sweep this week would give the Storm a 3-game win streak, the longest of the season. It has been an expected bumpy ride with a new coach, new players, new system and a new conference.
The season started with four losses. There have been three 3-loss streaks and three 2-win streaks. There has been no quit streak.
Southeastern has two players in double figures with Downing at 12.8 and Urald King at 11.3. Kohli is a basket away at 9.8 and Johnson is averaging 9.2 points per game.
THE GAC TOURNAMENT tips off at noon Thursday, March 1, for the men and noon Friday for the women.
All games will be played in 2,200-seat Bruin Fieldhouse and all games will be available on the GAC Sports Network Webcast (free of charge) for those unable to attend.
The men will play on Thursday and Saturday, the women on Friday and Saturday.
The men’s championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, March 4, with the women’s title tilt to follow at 3:30.
All-Tournament teams will be announced prior to presentation of championship trophies.
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