The regular-season champion Crimson Storm (23-6) held the Tigers (10-17) scoreless for the first 7:11 of the game and scored the game’s first 11 points. Southern Nazarene forced nine turnovers in that span and forced East Central into five missed shots before a Tatum Havens jumper netted ECU its first points.
East Central rebounded in the second quarter with a 16-4 run that gave the upset-minded Tigers a 24-20 lead. However, Southern Nazarene closed by scoring the quarter’s final six points to take a two-point lead into halftime.
The Crimson Storm carried the closing momentum into the third quarter as they outscored the Tigers by seven points to grow their lead to nine. They held the Tigers to 3-of-14 shooting, 0-of-3 on 3-point tries. SNU’s Umi Otsuka scored seven points in the period.
Hannah Giddey, the conference’s Player and Defensive Player of the Year put the Crimson Storm offense on her back in the fourth quarter. She went 7-for-7 from the floor and scored 15 of her game-high 23 points. For the game, she added seven rebounds, five blocks and four steals. Otsuka finished with 15 points off the bench.
The Crimson Storm, the GAC leaders in opponent’s field-goal percentage and scoring defense, held the Tigers to 13 points below their season average and permitted the Tigers to shoot 36.7 percent from the floor. Eva Fernandez paced the Tigers with 12 points.
Southern Nazarene secured its fourth trip to the semifinals of the GAC Championships in the past five years. At noon on Saturday, the Crimson Storm will face Southeastern Oklahoma State or Southwestern Oklahoma State. The Crimson Storm won their two regular-season meetings against both the Savage Storm and Lady Bulldogs.
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