St. Leo, FL – Southern Wesleyan fell to the Saint Leo Lions in non-conference action on Friday afternoon in a 94-52 final score.

The Warriors shot 40% from the field and went 66.7% from the free throw line in the loss.  Lisana Burnett led the Warriors with 13 points.  She was followed by Brooke Henricks with nine points.  Southern Wesleyan had 14 assists in the game, with Emily Waters leading the team with five.

Southern Wesleyan posted 22 rebounds during the game with Lisana Burnett and Brooke Henricks leading the team with five each.  Burnett led the Warriors in steals with four of the eight steals.

Game Vitals

Final: Saint Leo 94, Southern Wesleyan 52

Records: Southern Wesleyan (1-9 / CC 1-4) Saint Leo (5-6 / 1-3 Sunshine State)

How It Happened

The Saint Leo Lions struck first, putting up back to back layups by Alani Gallagher to give them a 4-0 lead.  Southern Wesleyan countered as Emily Waters tipped the ball over to Lisana Burnett, who laid it up to put the Warriors down four points and make the score 2-6.  Despite 3-pointers by Aneysa Williams and Denisha Hall, Southern Wesleyan trailed Saint Leo 8-13 with five minutes left in the first quarter.  Waters made a layup under the basket to keep the Warriors within six points.

The Lions attacked first in the second quarter, but a layup by Brooke Henricks put Southern Wesleyan within ten points of Saint Leo.  The Lions continued to push away, but layups by Henricks and Tanayja Williams kept Southern Wesleyan within striking distance.  However, Saint Leo went on a ten point surge to push their lead further before Lisana Burnett laid the ball up under the basket to make the score 23-46. 

Saint Leo kept the pressure up in the second half with back-to-back baskets by Gallagher and Alex Button before Southern Wesleyan was allowed back on the board off a jump shot from the right side by Aneysa Williams.  The Warriors continued to chip away with layups by Lisana Burnett and Emily Waters.  A 3-pointer by Casey O'Shaughnessy gave the Lions a 30-point advantage with just under five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The Lions maintained the pressure on the Warriors defense as Nina Robinson put up a layup, but Brooke Henricks quickly countered with a layup to make the score 42-76.  Southern Wesleyan continued to push as Emily Waters made a layup and Caroline Reese sunk a 3-pointer on the outside left.  Despite a last second layup by Ramsay Green off a pass from Diamond Ellison, the Warriors fell in a 52-94 final score.

What's Next

Southern Wesleyan will remain in St. Leo, Florida tomorrow as they take on West Florida at 12 p.m.  They will then return to Historic Tysinger Gymnasium on January 2 and 4.  They will kick off 2020 against the King Tornado on January 2 at 5:30, and then will host the Converse Valkyries on January 4 at 2 p.m.