LAKELAND, Fla. — The Southeastern University women’s basketball team got out to a quick lead and didn’t look back in their 105-42 victory over Thomas University, improving their record to 12-2 with a 10-0 mark in conference play.

A career day from sophomore guard Haley Howarth paced the Fire to victory as she poured in a career-high 32 points.

Howarth outscored the Thomas NightHawks by herself in the opening quarter, scoring 14 of the Fire’s 26 points compared to nine for TU. She connected on four of her five 3-PT attempts in the first quarter and finished the night with eight made threes.

SEU took a 48-22 lead into halftime thanks to 22 giveaways from Thomas, leading to 29 points off turnovers for the Fire in the first half.

Howarth led all scorers with 22 points after the first two quarters of action and was followed by Bekki Kalaydjiev with eight and added three assists.

As a team the Fire shot 48.4% from the field and 80% from the free throw line.

SEU didn’t let their foot off the gas to open the second half, outscoring Thomas 32-10 in the third quarter en route to their 63-point win. This was their largest margin of victory of the season.

Four others joined Howarth in double figures in scoring with Jade Odom totaling 16, Kalayjdjiev and Madi Hecox both finished with 14, and Gabrielle Ozoude adding ten off the bench.

Kalaydjiev was two steals away from a double-double as she recorded eight takeaways.

As a team the Fire put together their best shooting effort of the season, making 57.6% of their field goal attempts, and hit 13 of their 25 shots from 3-PT range.

The Fire return to action on Thursday when they travel to face St. Thomas at 5:30 pm.

The post Howarth’s career night leads Fire to victory appeared first on Southeast Sports Net.

THOMASVILLE, Ga. – In their Sun Conference opener, the Southeastern University men’s basketball team defeated Thomas University 89-69 to move to 4-0 on the season.

Sophomore Riley Minix and senior Isaiah Moody paced the Fire as Minix finished with his second double-double of the season with 26 points and 15 rebounds, while Moody poured in a season-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Trailing 5-0 to start the game, the Fire outscored the Night Hawks 37-15 the rest of the half to take a 37-20 lead into halftime. Sophomore Reggie Mesidor sparked the Fire offense in the first half, leading the team in scoring with 11 points.

As a team, Southeastern shot 55.6% from the field and outrebounded Thomas 24-9 in the first half.

The Fire defense prevented Thomas from finding open looks in the first 20 minutes of action as they held the Night Hawks to just 24.2% shooting from the field. That continued in the second half with Southeastern holding Thomas to shoot only 33.8% for the game.

SEU found their rhythm on offense in the final 20 minutes of play as they scored 52 points, the most points they’ve scored in a half this season.

Minix and Moody did most of their damage in the second half with Minix scoring 17 points and Moody adding 14 while shooting 6-of-6 from the field.

Transfer Ralph Diaz scored all eight of his points in the second half and added six rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

Graduate center Devon Ford controlled the paint in this one as he collected four offensive rebounds which helped him score his 11 points.

The Fire (4-0, 1-0 TSC) continue TSC action on Monday with a game at Coastal Georgia set for 7:30 pm.

The post Fire take care of Night Hawks in conference opener appeared first on Southeast Sports Net.