Box Score
WINTER PARK - Despite three Moccasin players scoring double-digits, Florida Southern fell on the road here Wednesday to 13th-ranked Rollins, 73-62, in Sunshine State Conference play at the Warden Arena on the campus of Rollins College.
The Mocs dropped yet another conference match, falling to 5-13 on the season with an SSC record of 0-8, while the No. 13 Tars improved to 17-3 and 6-2 in the conference. It was FSC's 12th consecutive regular-season conference loss, dating back to March 2 last season when the Mocs fell to Rollins 70-66 on Senior Night.
Rollins scored the first basket in the opening seconds of the half before junior guard Syerra Davis (Tolleson, Ariz.) drained a three-pointer to put the Mocs up early. The teams battled for much of the opening minutes of the first half, trading the lead five times between each other before the first media timeout at 15:33, with Florida Southern leading 7-6 following a layup from freshman forward Christin Strawbridge (Lakeland, Fla.).
Another basket from Strawbridge, followed by a trey from sophomore guard Ali Sanders (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.), put the Mocs up six with 13:28 to go in the half. A Tar jumper cut the lead to four but a basket from senior forward Morgan Lamberg (Mukwonago, Wis.) put the Mocs back up six, giving them their largest lead of the half.
Rollins retook the lead at 7:42 of the first half after nine unanswered points that melted three minutes off the clock before Florida Southern responded with back-to-back jumpers from Sanders and Lamberg to bring the score to 19-18.
Rollins increased their lead to four after a layup and successful free-throw, before FSC tied the score at 22 with 4:40 to go after four consecutive points from Strawbridge off of a layup and two free-throws. Rollins, however, answered right back with a flurry of baskets to give themselves a seven-point lead with just over three minutes remaining before halftime.
A Davis trey cut Rollins' lead to four before five straight Tar points put them up 34-25 with 2:06 to go in the half. Florida Southern responded with back-to-back threes from sophomore guard Sydni Payne (Conyers, Ga.) and junior guard Cashala Thompson (Tucson, Ariz.) brought the Mocs to within three with 40 seconds to go before Rollins hit a jumper to give them a 36-31 lead going into the break.
Strawbridge led all Moccasin players with eight points in the first half to go along with her five rebounds. Sanders led the Mocs with six first half rebounds, while she was second in scoring with seven points.
Florida Southern began the second half by scoring five of the seven first points of the half, whittling their deficit to two in the first two minutes. A layup from sophomore forward Mariah Harris (Gainesville, Fla.) following the first media timeout of the half tied the game at 38 before Rollins took a four point lead with less than 17 minutes to go. Payne's basket from beyond the arc brought FSC to within one before host Rollins pulled ahead with five straight points going into the second media timeout.
Florida Southern would go on a 13-3 run to take a 54-50 lead, their first lead of the game since 10:31 of the first half. The run was highlighted by back-to-back treys from Payne, while Harris pitched in with three points off of free-throws, and Strawbridge and Sanders each scored two.
Rollins stormed back, retaking the lead at 8:07 with a 15-2 run that lasted until a Sanders jumper at 2:58. Rollins continued to pour it on, achieving a double-digit lead at 2:13 off a three-pointer. Rollins would build their lead to as high as 13 with less than a minute to go before Harris scored the final points of the contest.
The Mocs were outrebounded 42-32 in the loss, while tying the Tars in assists. The Mocs were obliterated in the paint, giving up 32 points while only scoring 16, and they allowed Rollins to score 13 second-chance points while only scoring four of their own. The Mocs did tie a season-high for three-pointers with nine originally set against Young Harris early this season.
Payne scored a career-high 12 points in the defeat, breaking her previous mark of 11 points set against Florida Tech on Jan. 18. Sanders also tied her career-high of seven rebounds set against Palm Beach Atlantic this past Saturday. Sanders also scored 13 points, while Strawbridge put up 12. The Lakeland-native was just three-points shy of tying her career-high of 15 points last achieved against Lynn on Jan. 11.
Forward Sarah Taylor led the Tars in scoring with 19 points, while guard Sarah Blackburn recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The Mocs return to the hardwood this Saturday, Feb. 1, at 5:30 p.m. when the welcome fifth-ranked Nova Southeastern to Jenkins Field House. The last time these two met, the Sharks picked up a 110-65 victory in its SSC opener in Davie on Dec. 7.
