Story by Jake Knabel, NAIA Assistant Media Coordinator

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The third quarter was one to forget for Southeastern (Fla.), which fell from the ranks of the unbeaten on Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the 2017 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championships. In pursuit of a second-straight national title, Marian (Ind.) put out the Fire, 81-67, and moves onto the semifinals, which already include Concordia (Neb.) and St. Francis (Ill.).

Head coach Katie Gearlds’ program has won eight-consecutive national tournament games and stands at 33-3 overall. The Knights will meet up with No. 1-ranked St. Francis (Ill.) in the semifinals at 6 p.m. on Monday. Tim Hays’ group will head back home after claiming the first two national championships wins in school history. The Fire ended the season at 28-1 overall.

“We were getting the looks we wanted in the first half. Three starters were (a combined) 1-for-12 out of the gates,” Gearlds said. “Their length bothered us. They’re very, very good. We talked about having to play a near perfect game to beat them. It was similar to our Saturday game against Morningside last year. We didn’t play 100 percent perfect, but we shot it really well. We had 19 assists to 11 turnovers. We always to try and double up. When you have 11 turnovers against that defense, it’s saying something.”

Southeastern held a 39-36 lead at the conclusion of a competitive first half. The third quarter was a different story. Marian outscored the Fire, 27-10, over that 10-minute stretch and took control of the contest. The Knights got crazy hot, making 9-of-17 shots (5-of-8 3-point shots) during their game-defining third period runaway.

Junior guard Joana Soeiro literally couldn’t miss. She went 8-for-8 from the floor, including 4-for-4 from beyond the arc, and 4-for-4 from the foul line. She piled up a game high 24 points in a starring performance. She was backed by teammate Kellie Kirkhoff, who tallied 21 points on 7-for-17 shooting. Typically a prolific scorer herself, Jessica Almeida was held to five points, but she dropped seven dimes.

Both teams were potent from 3-point range. Marian made 14-of-29 shots from long distance while Southeastern knocked in 10-of-22 attempts from 3-point range. The Knights shot 45.8 percent overall compared to 45.6 percent shooting by the Fire, which trailed by double digits for the entire fourth quarter. 

It was a banner year for Southeastern, which ran through The Sun Conference with a perfect 16-0 league mark. Making its third-straight trip to nationals, the Fire reached the quarterfinals by toppling Valley City State (N.D.) and Northwestern (Iowa). Saturday marked the end of the career of 6-foot senior guard Bailey Hooker who equaled Alyssa Ramos for a team high 15 points versus Marian. Sarah Green chipped in 12 points and six rebounds. 

Ana Kirby (12 points) joined Soeiro and Kirkhoff as Knights to rack up double-digit point totals. Jenna Sullivan grabbed nine rebounds to go along with six points. Marian will enter Monday’s semifinals with a 19-game winning streak.