Box Score
LAKELAND â€" If Florida Southern is going to make a late-season run in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament, than head coach Holly Borchers and the Moccasins can look to the final five minutes of Wednesday’s game against Saint Leo for some inspiration. Those five minutes may have showed the rest of the league what they’re capable of doing. During that time, the Mocs nearly erased a 16-point deficit behind clutch 3-point shooting and the inside play of Christin Strawbridge, but fell just short as the Lions held on for an 82-76 win.
Saint Leo (16-7, 7-6) came into the game at #7 in the first Division II South Region rankings of the season, putting the Lions in the middle of a fight for an NCAA Tournament bid. They also got quite a battle from Florida Southern (7-17, 2-12) on Wednesday, even after the Mocs fell behind by 21 points late in the first half, trailed by 19 at halftime, and were still down by 19 with as little as seven minutes to play in the game. Even with Saint Leo senior guard Teresa Manigrasso scoring 30 points, and the team going 34-for-36 from the free throw line (94 percent), the Lions could never deliver a true knockout punch.
They also had trouble stopping Strawbridge once she got going. The freshman from Lakeland scored 20 points for her second highest total of the season. She didn’t score until more than eight minutes into the game, but finished the first half with 10 points and scored 10 more in the second even while working around four fouls.
Florida Southern trailed 16-15 midway through the first half before Saint Leo reeled off 15 unanswered points, a run that started with consecutive 3-pointers by Manigrasso, and another bucket by Manigrasso following a Moccasin turnover. The Mocs broke their scoring drought with five straight points to pull within 31-21, but the Lions then went on another long run of 11 in a row that included 3-point field goals on three straight possessions. That allowed the Lions to open up a 21-point lead with just under four minutes to play in the first half.
By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, Saint Leo was up 48-29, with Manigrasso having scored 22 points, the Lions going 7-for-14 from beyond the arc, and the Moccasins missing all seven of their 3-point tries and shooting 31 percent overall.
In the second half, however, Florida Southern clamped down on Saint Leo’s long-range shooters, as the Lions were just 1-for-8 from that distance and only 4-for-23 from the field (17 percent). Unfortunately for the Mocs, the Lions were nearly perfect from the line where they went 25-for-26 in the second half, and it helped keep the deficit at 19 points with seven minutes to play, and 16 points (76-60) with less than five minutes on the clock.
That’s when the Mocs took off, with Strawbridge scoring two baskets in the paint, and sophomore Ali Sanders (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) and junior Syerra Davis (Tolleson, Ariz.) each knocking down a 3-pointer that got the Mocs within nine at the 2:48 mark. After two free throws by Saint Leo’s Melissa Jackson, Florida Southern went on a 7-0 run that featured two more treys from junior Cashala Thompson (Tucson, Ariz.) and Sanders that made the score 80-76 with 46.9 seconds remaining.
The Mocs even got the ball back right after that when Davis and sophomore Mariah Harris (Gainesville, Fla.) forced Chachi Guzman to step on the sideline after receiving the ball on the inbounds play. Davis then got an open shot near the free throw line for Florida Southern, but the ball rolled painfully around the basket for the Moccasins, the Lions got the rebound, and Guzman converted two free throws to put Saint Leo up by six with 26 seconds to play.
Florida Southern ended up turning the ball over on its next possession, and Saint Leo was able to run out the final few seconds to preserve its 82-76 win.
Strawbridge finished with a team-high 20 points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes for the Moccasins, while Sanders scored 17 points. Harris added 11, and Thompson scored nine, with all of them coming on 3-point field goals in the second half. Senior Morgan Lamberg (Mukwonago, Wis.) also had a solid all-around night with six points, seven rebounds and six assists.
The Moccasins ended up 6-for-11 from 3-point range in the second half when they outscored the Lions, 47-34.
Saint Leo’s Manigrasso led all scorers with 30 points while going 10-for-15 from the floor, 4-for-7 from 3-point distance, and 6-for-6 from the line. Guzman scored 15 points, and was 8-for-8 on free throws, and Chelsea Williams added 12 points while making all 10 of her free throw attempts.
Florida Southern’s next game will be on Wednesday night, February 26, at Tampa. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
