Mocs Season Ends at SSC Tournament With Setback to Barry

KISSIMMEE - Florida Southern rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to take a four point lead in the second half, but the Moccasins were held to just four points over the final four minutes of the game here Wednesday evening as they fell 50-44 to eighth-seeded Barry in the opening round of the 2013 Sunshine State Conference Women's Basketball Championship Tournament held at the Silver Spurs Arena.

Wednesday's game, which was the third meeting this season between the two teams, had seven ties and 10 lead changes, including five ties and four lead changes in the second half between the teams that were seeded eighth and ninth in the tournament. The teams split their regular season meetings as the Mocs won 47-44 in Lakeland and Barry defeated the Mocs, 64-61 in Miami Shores a month ago today.

With the loss, the ninth-seeded Mocs close the season with a 10-17 record and will look to replace four seniors, including three that played their final game in Red and White on Wednesday night. This year's seniors were guard Melanie Ducott (North Lauderdale, Fla.), forward Alexis Hochstetler (Sarasota, Fla.) and forward Kirstin McIntyre (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.). The fourth senior, guard Tracy Fosterling (Albuquerque, N.M.), suffered a season ending injury a minute into the Mocs 73-70 overtime win on Feb. 9 at home against then 20th-ranked Nova Southeastern.

The biggest lead for either team in Wednesday's game was Barry's 10 point cushion late in the first half as they hit three treys and connected on 6-of-8 free throws in the opening half to take a 27-20 lead at the half. All of Barry's 3-pointers in the first half came from Jackie Perez, who keyed a 14-5 run over the final eight-plus minutes of the first half.

FSC, who trailed 27-20 at the half, opened the second half on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 29 following a basket by Ducott with 14:42 left in the game. Ducott, who finished with a game-high 17 points, had seven of her team's nine points during the run. Over her final three games of her collegiate career, Ducott scored 63 points.

Barry, who improved to 15-12 on the season and earns a date in Thursday's quarterfinal round against No. 1 seeded and SSC co-champion Nova Southeastern, retook the lead on a lay-up by Tyler Hardy with 12:20 left in the game, but the Mocs retied the game 49 seconds on a jump shot by junior forward Morgan Lamberg (Mukwonago, Wis.) and pushed its lead to 33-31 on two free throws by sophomore guard Shelby Wheeler (Greenwich, Ohio) with 11:05 remaining in the contest. Those were the first two points scored this season by Wheeler.

The Mocs lead grew to 37-33 on a basket by freshman guard Caitlin Lindsey (Port Charlotte, Fla.) with 7:19 left in the game. Barry, though, responded with a 7-2 run capped by a three-pointer from Perez to take a 40-39 lead with 4:19 remaining.

FSC retook the lead on two free throws by freshman forward Mariah Harris (Gainesville, Fla.) just nine seconds later, but Hardy hit two free throws with 3:02 left to give the Bucs a 42-41 lead and Colette Eule hit two free throws 19 seconds later to give the Bucs a 44-41 lead. Barry's lead grew to five points at 46-41 following a lay-up by Hardy with 1:57 left.

The Mocs would respond with three straight points, including McIntrye scoring on a lay-up off a rebound from a missed Ducott free throw to pull FSC within 46-44 with 1:04 left.

McIntyre finished with 15 points and a career-high tying 14 rebounds for her team-best sixth double-double on the season and over her final three games of her college career, she tallied 54 points and had 36 rebounds. No other Moc scored more than four points in the contest.

The lay-up by McIntyre would be the Mocs final points of the game, though, as Hardy scored on a lay-up with 28 seconds left and Eule capped the scoring with two free throws with 12 seconds left to push Barry's lead to 50-44.

In the first half, McIntyre and Ducott scored all 20 of the Mocs points as McIntyre had 11 and Ducott scored nine.  

Hardy led the way for Barry with 14 points and eight boards, while Eule added 13 points and Perez chipped in with 12 in the win. 

Both teams shot 32 percent from the field in the game, while Barry shot 24 percent from the 3-point line and FSC shot 15 percent from long distance. The Mocs held a 39-38 edge on the glass, but committed 16 turnovers that led to 17 Barry points. The Bucs finished with 14 turnovers for the game.