ECU women stop rival Southeastern

Jan. 25—East Central senior Izzy Cummins hit a clutch 3-pointer late and the Tigers hit enough free throws down the stretch to upend arch-rival Southeastern 65-58 Monday on Black Out Night inside the Kerr Activities Center.

East Central improved to 6-10 overall and 3-8 in Great American Conference play, while the Savage Storm left town at 4-12 and 2-9 and riding a five-game losing streak.

"It was a great showing for our team on rivalry Monday. It's always good to beat them. And to beat them here is great for us," said East Central Interim head coach Heather Hurt. " We had great effort and people made plays who needed to make plays."

The Tigers led by five before Cummins sank a 3-pointer at the 2:33 mark to give her team a 56-48 advantage.

ECU then hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final 1:21 of the contest to milk the contest away, For good measure, Cummins got behind an SOSU full-court press for a fast-break bucket with 20.1 seconds left that put ECU on top 61-54.

Cummins had been a thorn in Southeastern's side all night long. She finished with 28 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 shooting from 3-point range.

"Izzy was really big. She hit so many big shots for us. She was awesome. I couldn't ask for more effort from her," Hurt said.

The game went back and forth for most of the first three quarters.

With ECU down four, Cummins hit a 3-pointer late in the first period that got ECU within 15-14 heading into the second period.

That bucket started a 9-0 run by the Tigers. Kennedy Allison scored the first bucket of the second quarter for ECU and Mackenzie Crusoe followed with a pair of baskets that pushed the ECU lead to 20-15 at the 3:10 mark.

During the first seven-plus minutes of the quarter, Southeastern went 0-for-7 with five turnovers.

Briley Moon saved the Savage Storm from a disastrous quarter when she hit back-to-back 3-pointers. She converted a four-point play on the second one that put the visitors ahead 22-20.

Ashlyn Evans-Thompson sank a 3-pointer for the Tigers with just over four seconds left in the period and ECU held a slim 23-22 halftime edge.

The third quarter also stayed tight Southeastern led by five late, but Cummins again delivered a 3-pointer at the horn that trimmed the SOSU advantage to 42-40 heading to the fourth quarter.

The game featured five ties and 10 lead changes.

Crusoe finished with 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds for East Central. Evans-Thompson also hit double figures with 12 points and also had four steals.

Moon led all scorers with 28 points for the visitors. She sank 10-of-13 field goals and went 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. Caitlin Kobiske added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Savage Storm.

Both teams shot free throws well. ECU made 10-of-12 tries and Southeastern went 8-of-9.

East Central owned a 30-21 rebounding edge.

The ECU women are back at home Thursday, hosting Henderson State. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.