Box Score
LAKELAND - Florida Southern women's basketball, celebrating their Senior Night, concluded the 2013-14 regular season with a 55-45 loss to No. 13 Rollins at the Jenkins Field House Saturday evening.
The Mocs finished the regular season with an overall record of 7-19, while falling to 2-14 in the Sunshine State Conference, and extending their losing streak to five. Meanwhile, the highly-ranked Tars improved to 23-5 overall and 12-4 in the SSC.
Complete 2014 SSC Basketball Tournament Bracket
Junior Syerra Davis (Tolleson, Ariz.) got Florida Southern on the board with the first basket of the contest at 19:32 before Rollins quickly tied the score with a layup of their own. The 13th-ranked Tars took the lead at 18:47, but the Mocs answered right back with a jumper from Davis and layup and free throw from senior Morgan Lamberg (Mukwonago, Wis.) to go ahead 7-4.
An Ali Sanders (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) three-pointer and layup from freshman Morgan Siebka (Slippery Rock, Pa.) gave the Moccasins an eight-point lead early in the half, but Rollins would storm back with 14 straight points over a nine-minute span to take an 18-12 lead with 6:53 to go in the half.
A field goal from sophomore Mariah Harris (Gainesville, Fla.) put an end to the consecutive points run and brought the Mocs to within four, but a three-pointer from Cassidy Bailey, followed by four straight Rollins free throws, put Florida Southern down 11 with under 1:30 remaining in the first half.
Free throws from Cashala Thompson (Tucson, Ariz.) and Christin Strawbridge (Lakeland, Fla.) put the score at 25-17 with :54 remaining before a Rollins jumper put the score at 27-17. Two free throws from Siebka brought the deficit back down to eight before a Rollins jumper with :02 remaining ended the first half with the visiting Tars ahead 29-19.
Davis and Siebka tied for the first-half lead with four points each, while Davis pulled down six of the team's 19 first-half rebounds. The Mocs shot 6-21 from the field for a 28.6 field goal percentage, while only hitting one three-pointer in the entire first half.
Harris scored the first four points of the second half with back-to-back layups to pull the Mocs to within six. Rollins answered with a jumper, but Thompson responded with a jumper to put the score a 31-25 in favor of the Tars with 15:18 remaining.
Four straight Rollins points increased their lead to ten before Strawbridge scored on a fade-away jumper to put the Mocs back down eight. Five straight Rollins points pushed their lead to 13 with 12:20 left in the game.
A jumper from Harris and a trey from Sanders brought the lead back down to 10 with 9:25 remaining, but the Tars tacked on three points off a free throw and layup to build their lead back to 13.
The teams traded points for much of the middle of the half, with the lead never getting higher than 13, before consecutive Rollins threes, paired with two free throws, put No. 13 team up by 18 with 3:35 remaining in the contest.
Florida Southern did not go down quietly, as they scored the last eight points of the contest to put the score at 55-45. Two free throws from Davis started the run, and three points each from Strawbridge and sophomore Sydni Payne (Conyers, Ga.) off layups and free throws, provided the game's final points.
Shortly after the game concluded, Lamberg was honored and thanked by the fans and coaching staff for her contributions to the Moccasin women's basketball program. Fellow senior Taylor Maldonado (Stroudsburg, Pa.) was also honored on the court, where it was announced that she would return for another season after redshirting following a season-ending knee injury suffered against Young Harris in November 2013.
Harris led the Mocs in scoring with 10 points off five field goals, while Davis pulled down 10 rebounds and was a point away from a double-double. In her final game at the Jenkins Field House, Lamberg finished with three points, eight rebounds, one assist and one steal in 34 minutes of action.
The Mocs were 16-55 from the floor on the evening, while going 3-15 from beyond the arc and 10-15 from the free throw line. Rollins outrebounded FSC 52-39, including pulling down 19 offensive rebounds to Florida Southern's 10.
Ashley Losch led the Tars in scoring with 12 points, while Jasmine Cohen and Sarah Blackburn pulled down 10 boards each in the win.
The Mocs return to the court on Thursday, Mar. 6, as they compete in the 2014 Sunshine State Conference Tournament at the Silver Springs Arena in Kissimmee. The ninth-seeded Mocs will once again face the Rollins Tars, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, at 2:30 p.m.
