BABSON PARK, Fla. (February 8, 2020) – The upstart Webber International University women's basketball team put up a very hard-fought effort against the top-ranked team in NAIA Division-II women's basketball at home on Saturday, but in the end the Warriors fell by a score of 72-59 against No. 1 Southeastern inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center.

Webber (15-10 overall, 9-6 TSC), which had won each of its five previous conference games entering the matchup against a Southeastern (23-2, 15-0) program that has not lost a Sun Conference game in four seasons and has now won 22 straight games, showed that it could play with the Fire despite giving up exactly 18 points in all four quarters.

The 13-point margin of victory for Southeastern was the closest game the Fire have played in The Sun Conference so far this season.

In the opening quarter, the game was tied at 11-11 with 3:21 left in the period after two free throws by LeAndra Franklin, but Southeastern closed out the quarter on a 7-0 run to lead 18-11.

Despite keeping the game in reach throughout, Webber would be unable to get closer than within seven points the rest of the way.

The second quarter began with the Fire going on a 7-2 run to take a 12-point lead at 25-13 just over a minute into the period. During the rest of the second quarter, Webber got back to within seven points of the lead three times and never trailed by more than 12 before heading into the locker room down by only single digits at 36-27.

The Warriors then opened up the second half with a layup by Taniya Patrick to make it a seven-point game again at 36-29, and then after falling behind by 12 again at 41-29, Webber got back to within eight at 41-33 following back-to-back layups by Dysheka Price and Patrick with 7:13 to go in the quarter.

Halfway through the third quarter, a jumper by Patrick followed by two free throws by Paris Copeland made a 13-point deficit a nine-point margin at 46-37 with 3:51 on the clock, but unfortunately Southeastern closed out the third quarter on an 8-2 run to lead by 15 at 54-39 with only 10 minutes left to play.

The Warriors got back to within single digits once during the final quarter as a 3-pointer by Franklin made it a nine-point game at 62-53 with four and a half minutes left to play, but a 7-1 Fire run over the next two minutes put the deficit back at 15 points at 69-54 with only a minute and a half left.

Eletra Graham connected on a late 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to make it an 11-point game at 70-59.

Webber did outscore Southeastern 20-18 during the final quarter thanks to shooting 50 percent (8-16) from the field and hitting three 3-pointers during the period.

Key performers for Webber included Patrick with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field, Graham with 14 points on four 3-pointers, Price with nine points, Copeland with eight points, and Franklin with seven points. Copeland, Franklin and Breyonna Reed also each dished out four assists in the contest.

Next up in exactly one week, Webber will remain on its home court inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center to host another Polk County rival for the second Saturday in a row. This time, the Warriors and the rival Royals of Warner University will do battle starting in the morning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 15.