BETHANY, Okla. - The Storm hosted the Arkansas-Monticello Blossoms as they continued their home stint inside the Sawyer Center. Southern Nazarene got off to a bit of a slow start but was able to tack on another victory by a final score of 63-51.

The two squads met for the second time this season. The Storm (24-1, 18-1 GAC) defeated the Blossoms (8-17, 4-15 GAC) earlier this season on the road in Monticello. Southern Nazarene looked to claim the season sweep over the Blossoms and they did just that.

The Blossoms got on the board first with a 4-0 run before the Crimson Storm posted their first points nearly three minutes into the ball game. It was not long before the score was tied up at 6-6. 

Monticello continued to pour in the points in the paint, while SNU utilized the free throw line to hang around. The squads continued to trade points before a UAM three-ball pushed them ahead 16-13. The Blossoms tacked on two more free throws to lead the Storm 18-13 after one-quarter of play.

The Storm collected the first points of the second quarter getting the momentum on their side. Emily Monaghan went to work snagging a rebound and laying in the fast-break bucket to put the Storm within one. Monaghan then made her way to the charity stripe knocking down both shots to claim the 19-18 lead. 

UAM continued to hang around knocking down multiple shots at the foul line to grab back the lead 22-21. Lauryn Reither hit a jumper in the paint to put SNU up once more with 4:35 left to play in the half. 

Carley Gasaway drained a three-ball to give Southern Nazarene a five-point lead, their largest lead of the night. Reither piled on a few more free throws and Monaghan hit one last jumper to give SNU the 31-26 lead at the half. 

Hannah Giddey opened the second half with a jumper in the paint to extend the Storm lead once again. The Reither and Giddey duo tacked on some more points in the paint to push the Southern Nazarene lead to 10. The Blossoms cut the lead to five, but the Storm hit a few more shots in the paint to bring their lead to 41-26 before UAM called for a timeout.

A Reither three and a Giddey layup put the Storm up by 10 once again. Monaghan tacked on the final few points for SNU at the foul line to give the Storm a 50-38 going into the final quarter. 

Southern Nazarene was in control going into the fourth quarter as they continued to collect more points in the paint. Monticello struggled to catch up as the Crimson Storm began to pull away on a Jillian Crawford three to lead 59-45. Crawford tacked on a few more in the final minutes to help SNU to the 63-51 victory.

Monaghan led the offense with a career-high 25 points to go alongside her seven rebounds. Giddey posted 14 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks on the night. Reither was the other SNU member to see double-digit scoring, collecting 11 points and seven rebounds as well.

Next Up

The Storm will host Southern Arkansas inside the Sawyer Center on Saturday, February 24th at 1:00 p.m. SNU took down the Muleriders earlier this season on the road and will look to complete the season sweep.