MSU Athletics

DURANT, Okla. - Savannah Carver and Aqueelah Watkins dropped in matching career highs in Saturday night's Lone Star Conference crossover at Bloomer Sullivan Arena.

But it wasn't enough to overcome No. 25 Southeastern Oklahoma State as the Savage Storm rolled to a 73-61 win to improve to 8-0 on the season.

The Mustangs, who dropped their second straight to fall to 2-5 on the season, face East Central (Okla.) Monday night at Kerr Center in Ada.

Southeastern controlled the tempo throughout the first half and constructed a 23-point lead when Ashley Hobbs canned a 3-pointer to give the Savage Storm a 57-34 lead with 10:39 to go.

The Mustangs fought back as Carver, Watkins and Nolisha Markham did all the damage in a 21-5 over the next five minutes as MSU trimmed the the SOSU advantage to 62-55 with 5:11 to play.

Carver hit 6-of-16 shots to finish while adding five rebounds to go along with 17 points, while Watkins added seven rebounds while hitting 5-of-9 from the field and hit 7 of her nine free throws for 17 points while pulling in seven rebounds.

Markham scored eight of her 10 points during the run, but fouled out in just 16 minutes of court time.

The trio's effort wasn't enough as the Savage Storm hit 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to hold on for the victory.

Sophomore forward Jazman Patterson scored seven points and fourth for a season-high 10 rebounds to lead bench efforts for the Mustangs.

Senior forward Destiny Brown, the LSC North Division Player of the Year, paced Southeastern with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Nikki Nester and Kacey Russell had 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Midwestern State is 0-8 against nationally ranked competition over the past three seasons.