Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG - Florida Southern dug themselves too big a hole in the first half to overcome as the Moccasins furious second-half rally fell short here Wednesday evening as the Moccasins fell 59-47 to Eckerd College in Sunshine State Conference action at the McArthur Center.
The Mocs, who missed its first 15 field goal attempts and trailed 32-13 at the half, used a 17-6 run over a nearly eight minute span in the second half to pull within 53-44 following a lay-up by freshman Mariah Harris (Gainesville, Fla.) with 2:51 left in the game. That would be as close as FSC got as EC scored six of the game's final nine points to seal its second win this season over FSC.
With the loss, the Mocs fall to 9-14 overall on the season and 3-10 in the SSC, while Eckerd improves to 12-10 overall and 8-6 in the SSC.
After shooting just 13 percent (4-for-32) from the field in the first half and missing all six of its three-point attempts, the Mocs shot 31 percent from the field and hit three of its six three point tries (50 percent), including two during its run from freshman guard Caitlin Lindsey (Port Charlotte, Fla.) and junior guard Taylor Maldonado (Stroudsburg, Pa.), who was seeing her first action since suffering an injury in the Mocs non-conference game against Maryville on Dec. 30. Maldonado played 29 minutes in the game and scored five points, had two rebounds, three assists and three steals.
The Mocs also played aggressive as they got into the bonus early in the second half and went to the free throw line 16 times in the final 20 minutes and hit 13 of those 16 free throws. Eckerd finished the game with 16 fouls, including being called for 12 in the second half. ÂÂ
Senior forward Kirstin McIntyre (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.), who scored the Mocs first basket of the game on a 12-foot jumper with 8:59 left in the first half, led the way for the Mocs with 14 points, including going 10-for-12 at the line, while Lindsey added 12 points on the night.
The Mocs finished the game with a 42-38 edge on the glass, including picking up 20 offensive boards, including 11 in the first half. Harris led the way on the boards for the Mocs as she tied her career-high with 11 boards, while senior forward Alexis Hochstetler (Sarasota, Fla.) added nine boards.
In the first half, the Tritons jumped out to a 9-0 lead a little over four minutes into the game, before Hochstetler put the Mocs on the scoreboard with two free throws with 15:32 left in the opening half. That would be the only two points FSC scored in the game's first 11 minutes.
The Mocs would pull within 22-7 in the first half, but Eckerd closed the half on 10-6 run to go into the half with its 19-point lead.
FSC opened the second half on a 12-8 run to pull within 40-25 following a basket by freshman guard Ali Sanders (Carpentersville, Ill.). In fact, Sanders scored the Mocs final four points during the run. The Tritons, though, pushed its lead to 47-27 thanks to a 7-2 run capped by a three-pointer from Rana Thomas with 10:27 left in the contest that forced the Mocs to call a timeout.
Following the timeout, the Mocs began its comeback as they scored seven consecutive points, including five straight from Lindsey to pull within 47-34 with 8:42 left in the game.
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Annie Armstrong led the way for the Tritons with 14 points, while Krystal Charles tallied 11, including eight in the first half and Thomas added 10 in the win.
Eckerd finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line and committed a game-high 16 turnovers that led to 11 FSC points. Both teams each got 11 points off its bench.
The Mocs will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 23 as they return home to Jenkins Field House to host Florida Tech in a 5:30 p.m. SSC contest. Tech picked up a 52-48 win over the Mocs in Melbourne on Jan. 26.
