Box Score LAKELAND - The Florida Southern women's basketball team dominated the Embry-Riddle Eagles in its 70-42 home-opening win at Jenkins Field House on Saturday afternoon.
It was a much needed victory for the Moccasins (3-2, 0-0 inside the SSC) coming off a 0-2 road trip in the state of Georgia last week. Whereas they found themselves on the wrong end of large first-half deficits against Valdosta State and Georgia Southwestern, the Mocs took the lead early and ran away with it against Embry-Riddle.
"We needed that after our trip to Georgia," said head coach Betsy Harris. "It was a letdown for all of us. We felt like we should have come back 4-0, but we didn't. We want to continue to have a winning record to develop that winning attitude to make it a habit.
The Eagles (2-2, 0-0 inside the Sun Conference) took a three-point lead in the first moments of the game with a layup from sophomore Mercedes Jorge and a foul to complete the and-one play. The lead lasted a mere seven seconds. Florida Southern responded with the next 10 points, bookending the scoring run with 3-pointers from guards Shaquita Snow (Orange Park, Fla.) and Cashala Thompson (Tucson, Ariz.).
There was a lull lasting nearly five minutes after Thompson's three where neither team could buy a basket. FSC was 0-for-7 from the field with a trio of turnovers from 16:06 to 11:07. Luckily for Harris’ Mocs, the Eagles played just as poorly during that stretch.
"€œThere were several times where we didn't score, even in the second half," said the first-year head coach. "We were lucky; we went on a scoring drought and it was the same thing for them, but we're going to come up against a Tampa or a Rollins or a Nova (Southeastern), they're not going to have a scoring drought. They're going to have something to answer back with. We got to get better at that."
While the Mocs as a team gained confidence with a blowout win, junior Mariah Harris made her first impactful performance of the young season. Coming from an injury, she has seen limited action. Although she only played a combined 25 minutes in her first three games, Mariah scored a game-high 13 points and led the Mocs with seven rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench.
"It's been kind of tough getting back into the groove, but my teammates are really supportive," said the 6-0 forward from Gainesville, Fla. "It's just great to see the ball go in the hoop in a game. It's been really rough coming back."
Sophomore guard Morgan Siebka (Slippery Rock, Pa.) also turned in a standout performance. Siebka recorded career highs in points (12), field goals made (five) and tied her previous high with three assists. She also pulled down three rebounds.
Snow earned a season-high six assists to go along with nine points and three steals.
The Mocs exceeded the Eagles in almost every category, outscoring them 40-16 in the paint, 35-9 off turnovers and 32-3 and off the bench. FSC had 14 steals as the Eagles turned the ball over 32 times.
FSC held its largest lead with just under nine minutes remaining when Gianna Vastola's (Sarasota, Fla.) jump shot made it 62-26. The margin of victory is the largest since the Mocs posted a 27-point win over Lynn on Feb. 8, 2014.
The Mocs will play host to Palm Beach Atlantic in their next match on Friday, Dec. 5 at 5:30 p.m.
