Box Score
LAKELAND - A double-digit second-half lead for the Moccasins evaporated quickly as Florida Southern dropped yet another tough contest, this time to Sunshine State Conference archrival Tampa 72-62 here Wednesday night at Jenkins Field House.
The loss, which dropped the Mocs to 4-12 and 0-7 in the SSC, brought their losing streak to 10 games, a school record. Meanwhile, the Spartans improved to 11-5 and 5-2 in the conference with the victory. This was the 87th all-time meeting between the two schools, with FSC holding a 55-31 edge over UT.
Florida Southern started the game scoring the first 11 points of the game, with four different Moccasin players scoring baskets during the run. Sophomore forward Mariah Harris (Gainesville, Fla.), coming off a season-high 25 point effort against Florida Tech last Saturday, began the run at 19:32 with a layup. The initial basket was followed by a layup from sophomore guard Ali Sanders (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.), a three-pointer from junior guard Cashala Thompson (Tucson, Ariz.) and a layup from senior forward Morgan Lamberg (Mukwonago, Wis.) before Harris hit a jumper.  ÂÂ
Tampa wouldn't score until the 15:01 of the first half on a three-pointer from Ellen Nurmi. The teams traded baskets for most of the middle of the first half, with FSC jumping out to an 11-point lead off a trey from junior guard Syerra Davis (Tolleson, Ariz.) at 12:29 of the half.
A Spartan layup from guard Shamika Williams at 11:33 brought UT nine points closer, but a layup from freshman forward Christin Strawbridge brought the Mocs' lead back to 11 with 11:05 to go in the half. The score would stay at 24-13 until a UT layup at 8:37, followed by three more Spartan points, brought Florida Southern's lead back down to six at 7:32 in the half.
The Mocs answered back, scoring five straight points off a three from Thompson and a Sanders jumper to build their lead back up to 11 with 6:47 to go in the half. While their lead fluctuated between single and double-digits late into the half, threes Sanders and Davis gave the Mocs their biggest lead of the night at 14 with 4:45 to go in the half.
UT went on an eight-point run with 4:26 to go before halftime to draw to within six before a Harris jumper at 1:36 ended the run. A Taylor McVey free-throw brought the Spartans to within seven as the first half came to a close with the Mocs up 39-32.
Sanders led all players in first-half scoring with 12 points off two threes and three two-pointers, while hit three from beyond the arc for nine points. Davis pulled down a first-half high seven rebounds, while also leading the team with five assists.
FSC outrebounded Tampa 24-11 in the first half, while dishing out 13 assists to Tampa's eight. The Mocs were 7-11 from downtown, while the Spartans only hit 2-8 three-point attempts.
The Mocs continued their scoring ways right off the bat in the second half, with Thompson draining her fourth three-pointer of the game to give the Mocs a 10 point lead.
The visiting Spartans would retaliate, slowly clawing back with counter-buckets for every Moccasin basket made throughout much of the early second half. After a jumper from Lamberg, Tampa scored nine unanswered points to tie the game at 52 before a layup from Harris put the Mocs back up by two with 10:51 remaining in the game.
Tampa took their first lead of the game off a layup from Williams at 8:15 of the second half, and they never looked back. UT scored six straight points to put them up 58-54 before a Lamberg jumper brought the Mocs to within two, but six more unanswered Spartan points put them up by eight with over four minutes to go in the game.
Florida Southern continued to fight back, bringing the deficit to within six twice, but Tampa continued to draw fouls and sink their free-throws, building their lead to as much as 12 with 51 seconds to go before Sanders hit the only two Moccasin free throws to bring the score to 72-62.
Sanders scored a team-high 20 points in the loss, just four points shy of her career-high of 24 set against Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras early in the season, while Harris finished with 14 and Thompson 12. Davis pulled down eight of the team's 33 rebounds, while also dishing out seven assists.
The Spartans had five players score in double-figures, with Williams leading the way with 21 points. Williams also pulled down 10 rebounds, and tied with guard Juliana Cavallaro with four assists.
While the Mocs led Tampa in rebounding (33-31) and assists (20-11), Tampa was able to get to the charity line 26 times compared to just twice for Florida Southern. UT also outscored FSC in the paint (32-22), off fast-break points (10-2) and second-chance points (8-4). The Spartans also turned the ball over only seven times, half as many times as the Mocs did (15).
The Mocs return to the court this weekend in West Palm Beach as they conclude its non-conference schedule with a 2 p.m. contest at Palm Beach Atlantic. The Sailfish are coming off a 64-55 loss to SSC foe Rollins on Wednesday. The two teams last played in Lakeland on Dec. 14 and the Sailfish came away with a 70-53 victory in Jenkins Field House.
