Box Score
AIKEN, SC â€" Florida Southern dug its way out of an early hole in the first half against 5th-ranked South Carolina-Aiken, but couldn’t do the same in the second half when the Pacers got hot again. Despite 18 points and several big field goals by Taylor Maldonado, the Moccasins fell to USC-Aiken, 71-52, in the season opener for both teams.
Maldonado, a junior guard from Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, scored 14 of her 18 points in the first half when she played every minute and helped bring the Moccasins back after the Pacers scored the first 10 points of the game. They would get within a single point late in the half, and trailed by six at halftime, but the Pacers opened the second half by out-scoring the Mocs 11-3 and led by double digits the rest of the way.
The Pacers took their 10-0 lead in the first half by taking advantage of six Moccasin turnovers in the first 3½ minutes. They turned five of them into baskets, with pre-season All-American Kayla Harris either scoring or assisting the first four. A steal and bucket by Daniela Tarailo ended the run by USC-Aiken, before Kirstin McIntyre (Hopewell Junction, NY) put Florida Southern on the board with a jumper at the 16:13 mark.
Trailing 17-6 a little while later, the Moccasins started building momentum with a three-point play by Maldonado, followed by a steal by freshman Mariah Harris (Gainesville, FL) moments later. That led to two more Maldonado free throws that trimmed the gap to six. After a basket by Porsha Martin put the Pacers up 23-15, neither team scored for more than four minutes. Once again, it was Maldonado who got the Mocs going, draining a 3-pointer with six minutes to play in the half that pulled the Mocs within five.
Maldonado got them a little bit closer with a jumper at the 3:54 mark that made the score 25-21, and then made it a one-point game at 27-26 with a layup two minutes later. That was as close as the Mocs could get though, as the Pacers closed out the first half by scoring the final five points for a 32-26 lead at the break.
USC-Aiken started the second half with five more points before Maldonado connected on her second 3-pointer. That made the score 37-29 with 17:24 remaining, but the Pacers scored six straight after that to complete a 16-3 run that spanned the two halves.
The Moccasins, who were playing their first game under new head coach Holly Borchers, shot 42 percent from the floor, 61 percent from the line (17-for-28) and were 2-for-6 on 3-point tries. They were undone, however, by the two scoring spurts by the Pacers, who out-scored the Mocs by a combined margin of 21-3 in the opening minutes of each half.
Maldonado’s 18 points led the Moccasins and were only two off her career-high, while McIntyre scored 11 points, pulled down five rebounds, and added two assists, one steal and one block. Freshman Caitlin Lindsey (Port Charlotte, FL) came off the bench for eight points.
USC-Aiken got 23 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and three steals from Harris. Martin (16 points) and Tarailo (10 points) also scored in double figures, with Tarailo adding five rebounds and five steals.
Florida Southern returns to the court on Saturday, November 17 at the University of District of Columbia Classic where it will face Bowie State at 1:00 p.m.
