LAKELAND, Fla. (February 28, 2020) – The run of 78 consecutive wins against Sun Conference opponents and four straight Sun Conference Tournament championships for the No. 1-ranked team in NAIA Division-II women's basketball is over. The Webber International University women's basketball team upset top-seeded Southeastern University 91-83 in overtime during The Sun Conference Tournament semifinals on Friday inside The Furnace in Lakeland, Florida.

Webber led by as much as seven points in the second quarter at 34-27 and led 34-33 at halftime after outscoring Southeastern 19-12 in the second quarter.

Then, down by only one point at 51-50 heading into the fourth quarter, the Warriors tied it at 53-53 early in the quarter on a layup by Paris Copeland and then tied it again at 57-57 with just under six and a half minutes left in regulation on two free throws by Taniya Patrick

After a 5-0 Fire run broke the tie to make it a 62-57 Southeastern lead, Webber answered back with a 7-0 run and took the lead back at 64-62 on a 3-pointer by Eletra Graham.

Graham then hit another 3-pointer with under two minutes left in regulation to put Webber ahead by one at 68-67 before the Warriors needed two free throws by Emmarrie Carmen to tie the game up at 71-71 with 52 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Both teams then had a shot to win the game with under 10 seconds to go in regulation. Southeastern's Eliza West missed two free throws with 2.5 seconds on the clock before the Warriors drew up an inbounds play from the sideline with 2.0 seconds left but missed a layup at the buzzer that would have won the game.

In overtime, Graham hit another 3-pointer to put the Warriors ahead 74-72 after the Fire opened the extra period with a free throw.

Then, after a baseline jumper by Copeland with 2:25 left to play made it a 76-75 Warrior lead, it was all Webber from there as two free throws by LeAndra Franklin followed by an and-one by  Patrick capped a 7-0 Warrior run and made it 81-75 with 1:43 remaining.

Copeland added a layup and Franklin added two more free throws to put the Warriors ahead by eight at 85-77 with only 44.3 second to go, and then it was 89-81 after two free throw by Amaya Lasley.

The Warriors made 18 straight throws at that point between the fourth quarter and overtime period, showing just how important shooting from the line can be.

Webber was 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and 11-for-13 during the overtime period, and finished 27-31 from the line for the entire final 25 minutes of the game.

Additionally, Webber shot 57.14 percent (4-7) from the field during the overtime period while holding Southeastern to 27.27 percent (3-11) shooting overall and 1-for-6 (16.67 percent) shooting from three in the extra frame.

Webber's Head Women's Basketball Coach Grady Morrell said, "We believed. We got better from day one. That was our motto this year, 'get better every day with every play.' That's what these girls have done. They are resilient."

The Warriors put six players into double figures in scoring as Franklin, who was named Second-Team All-Sun Conference, led the way with 19 points while going 11-for-12 from the free throw line and adding seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Patrick, Webber's First-Team All-Sun Conference selection, finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season. She was 8-for-11 from the charity stripe.

Additionally, Graham finished with 15 points on 50 percent (5-10) shooting from 3-point range, Carmen scored 13 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the free throw line while adding five rebounds, Lasley and Copeland both added 11 points, and Thalia Jackson had five points and five rebounds.

Webber is now 19-11 on the season and will advance to The Sun Conference Tournament championship against third-seeded Johnson & Wales University (21-7, 13-5) at 5 p.m. on Saturday, February 29, still in Lakeland, Florida. The Warriors have already defeated the Wildcats twice by at least 18 points this season, but this time the matchup will come with an automatic bid to the NAIA Division-II Women's Basketball National Championship on the line.

To get to The Sun Conference Tournament championship game, JWU defeated sixth-seeded Ave Maria University 73-61 in the quarterfinal round before taking down second-seeded the College of Coastal Georgia by a score of 78-63 in the semifinals only one game prior to Webber's historic victory over Southeastern.

It was also the end of Southeastern's 25-game winning streak this season as the Fire are now 26-3 overall with losses against the No. 1 and No. 4 ranked teams in the country (at the time) in addition to the Warriors on their resume.