Box Score
SAINT LEO - In their second consecutive Sunshine State Conference road game, Florida Southern dropped their eighth straight game of the season to Saint Leo, 79-66, at the Bowman Center on the campus of Saint Leo University. Despite a season-high 12 total rebounds from senior forward Morgan Lamberg (Mukwonago, Wis.), the Mocs fell to 4-10 on the season, and their record in the SSC fell to 0-6.
The teams traded points and the lead for much of the first half, with neither team able to pull away by more than four points. A layup by sophomore guard Ali Sanders (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) at 12:56 was the first of nine straight Moccasin points to give them a16-10 lead over the host Lions (12-3, 3-2).
Saint Leo answered right back with six straight points of their own to tie the game at 16 with 8:50 to go before a jumper from junior guard Syerra Davis (Tolleson, Ariz.) and a free throw from freshman guard Morgan Siebka (Slippery Rock, Pa.) put the Mocs back ahead by three.
The Mocs built their lead back up to six twice with a trey from junior Cashala Thompson (Tucson, Ariz.) and a jumper from Sanders at 6:14, then again on consecutive free-throws from Sanders at 5:35 to give them a 26-20 lead.
Saint Leo responded with an 11-2 run to put them up 31-28 with 2:44 to go in the half. A layup from freshman Danielle Thomas (Conyers, Ga.) tied the game at 31 before the Lions regained the lead with 2:44 to go before halftime. Back-to-back baskets from Sanders and Davis gave Florida Southern a one-point lead before a Saint Leo jumper put the Mocs down one with 1:19 left.
The two teams scored a combined four points in the final 19 seconds of the half, with Saint Leo scoring a jumper in the paint with eight seconds left to end the half with the score at 35-34 in favor of the host Lions.
Lamberg pulled down 10 of FSC's 27 first-half rebounds, while Thompson led the Mocs in first half scoring with nine points off three three-pointers.
Saint Leo scored the first four points of the half to pull ahead by five. Florida Southern pulled to within two after a jumper from Sanders and a free throw from Lamberg, but Saint Leo increased their lead to six with 17:01 and again at 15:48 of the second half of play.
The Lions' began to pull away midway through the half, going on a 17-5 run that lasted nearly five minutes to put the score at 62-46 with 9:02 remaining in favor of the home team.
Florida Southern was unable to stop the Lions scoring barrage, allowing the Lions to keep their double-digit lead for the remaining eight minutes of the second half.
The Mocs would reduce the deficit to 11 points at 4:16 on a jump shot from sophomore forward Mariah Harris (Gainesville, Fla.), but they also were down by as many as 18 points with 2:18 to go before bringing themselves to within 13 from a Sanders trey with 20 seconds to go to provide the final score of the game.
Sanders led all Moccasin players in scoring with 15 points off five field goals, one three-pointer and four free-throws, while Lamberg, Thompson and Harris all finished with nine points, and Davis led the team with three of their nine team steals.
Saint Leo hit 53 percent of their second half shots, including 5-10 from beyond the arc, while holding Florida Southern to just 35.3 percent shooting and 2-12 from downtown. The Mocs were also outrebounded 27-18 in the second half of play, while they did commit less turnovers (8-6) and stole the ball six times to Saint Leo's three.
The Lions were paced in scoring by guard Chelsea Connelly with 17 points of 7-12 shooting from the field, including going 3-6 from behind the three-point line, while forward Keishara Green led the team with 11 rebounds.
The Mocs return to the friendly confines of Jenkins Field House on Saturday when they take on the Panthers of Florida Tech in a 5:30 p.m. SSC contest.
