TAMPA – The Florida Southern women's basketball team pulled out a 75-67 victory in its season opener against Georgia College at the University of Tampa's Spartan Challenge Tournament on Friday.

First-year head coach Betsy Harris became the fourth Moccasin women's basketball coach to win their debut.

"I'm just really proud of the girls for fighting to beat a really good Georgia College team," Harris said. "This was big for them and I hope for more to come."

It is also the first season-opening victory for the Moccasins since the start of the 2010-11 season.

According to Harris, her team showed the resolve she thought it lacked throughout the preseason.

"They showed some mental toughness today," the Mocs coach said. "That is the one thing we have been preaching all preseason, mental toughness."

With the game tied at 64, senior guard Cashala Thompson (Tucson, Ariz.) nailed consecutive 3-pointers to essentially put the game out of reach at 70-64. Thompson, who led the team in threes last season, made four of her game-high five 3-point field goals in the second half. She finished second on the team with 16 points.

As a team, the Mocs were 10-of-23 from beyond the arc. The last time the Mocs made 10 or more 3-pointers in a single game was on February 18, 2012, when they nailed 12 against Lynn.

The contest went back-and-forth throughout, as evidenced by the 18 lead changes.

Trailing by four early in the first half, junior guard Shaquita Snow (Orange Park, Fla.) and sophomore forward Christin Strawbridge (Lakeland, Fla.) sparked a nine-point run to take a 13-8 advantage, forcing Georgia College head coach Maurice Smith to take an early timeout just over six minutes into the game to stop the bleeding. Snow sandwiched a 3-pointer and a layup around a two straight layups from Strawbridge.

Strawbridge led all Mocs with 17 points and nine rebounds in addition to a two assists, two blocked shots and a steal.

"Christin did a really good job, but I have to say I was impressed with the team and not just one individual," Harris added.

The Bobcats used four threes of their own including two from junior guard McKenna Rushton in a span of 2:55 to jump ahead 33-26 with less than five minutes remaining in the first half. The Mocs wiped away the deficit with seven consecutive points to tie the game. A Snow 3-pointer drew the teams even at 33 with 2:52 remaining in the half. Snow was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and scored 15 points.

Bobcats senior guard Shanteona Keys, a returning Second-Team All-PBC selection, gave her team a two-point lead, 35-33, at the half. Keys led all scorers with 23 and tied Strawbridge with a game-high eight field goals.

After shooting 53.8 percent from the field in the first half, the Bobcats hit only 34.5 percent of their shots in the second. FSC outscored Georgia College 42-32 in the second half, including a 27-2 advantage in points of the bench.

Neither team led by more than three in the first 18-plus minutes of the second half until Thompson nailed the back-to-back shots from downtown.

"Those two threes were huge," said Harris.

Sophomore forward Gianna Vastola dished out a team-best three assists to go along with her eight points and six rebounds. Senior guard Syerra Davis (Tolleson, Ariz.) had a game-high four steals. 

The Mocs will conclude the Spartan Challenge Tournament with a 12 p.m. contest against Flagler College on Saturday, Nov. 15. The Saints lost to Tampa, 58-56, on Friday.