COMPLETE MOCCASIN NOTES
MOCCASIN QUICK NOTES
*- This is the 38th season of Moccasin women's basketball.
* - Florida Southern entered the 2014-15 season with a 647-355 all-time record in its previous 37 seasons of women's basketball.
* - The Moccasins have won 11 regular season Sunshine State Conference titles and another 10 SSC Postseason Tournament championships.
* - The Mocs began the 2014-15 campaign with a 75-67 win over Georgia College and a 62-49 win over Flagler, both members of the Peach Belt Conference, in the Spartan Challenge Tournament hosted by the University of Tampa on Nov. 14-15.
* - It was the first time the Mocs began the season with a 2-0 record since the 2011-12 season. That year, they won six consecutive games to open the season.
* - FSC has played eight of its 15 games inside Jenkins Field House. It is 5-3 at home so far in 2014-15, more than doubling its home win total from a year ago.
* - In five road games, the Mocs are 1-4.
* - The Mocs are now 22-12 all-time in Sunshine State Conference openers after defeating Barry in the first league game of 2014-15 on Jan. 3 by a final of 70-67.
* - The Mocs opened the Sunshine State Conference slate at 2-0. The last time they began 2-0 inside the SSC was the 2012-13 season.
* - After losing to Eastern New Mexico University on Dec. 18 in the FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic Opener, the Mocs won three straight games, tied for the longest win streak of the season.
* - However, they are currently on a four-game losing streak, the longest of the season.
* - All four losses during the current losing streak have been by double-digit points.
* - Two of those losses came at the hands of a ranked opponent: No.11 Nova Southeastern on Jan. 10 and No. 16 Florida Tech on Jan. 17.
* - Betsy Harris is the seventh head coach in FSC women's basketball history.
* - Harris is the fourth head coach to win their debut with the Mocs and only the second to win their FSC and SSC debuts, joining FSC Hall of Famer and the program's all-time winningest coach, Norm Benn.
LAST TIME OUT
Another late lull cost Florida Southern a Sunshine State Conference contest on Wednesday against Tampa. The Moccasins fell to the Spartans, 63-52, for their fourth straight loss in league play. Leading 41-40 with 9:19 to go, the Spartans (11-5, 4-2 SSC) went on a 14-2 run over the next five minutes to run away with the lead and the win. The Spartan run was fueled by a pair of 3-pointers. A layup from Juliana Cavallaro, followed by a two free throws from Aisha Rodney, gave Tampa its largest cushion of the night at 13 points, 55-42. After starting 5-for-6 from the field, the Spartans allowed the Mocs to get back into the game by shooting 6-for-21 to finish the first half. Senior guard Cashala Thompson drained a trey midway through the period to cut the deficit to 16-10. After a Tampa free throw, junior guard Ali Sanders scored consecutive buckets to make it a three-point game, 17-14. Jensen Blassage drove to the basket and drew a foul from Rodney, allowing the freshman guard to close the first half with an and-one play. Her layup and foul shot made it 25-21 in favor of the Spartans at the break. The Mocs raced out of the locker room in the second half to take their only lead of the contest. Blassage drove along the baseline and deposited a layup 52 seconds into the period. Forty-two seconds later, Thompson scored her second trey of the game and the Mocs went ahead by one, 26-25. Blassage finished with a career-high 11 points; she was 5-for-7 from the field.
MARIAH MEANS BUSINESS
Junior foward Mariah Harris is leading the Moccasin offense through the first six games of league play. The Gainesville, Fla., native is averaging a team-high 11.5 points per game over the last six contests. In her outing gainst No. 16 Florida Tech, Harris scored a season-high 21 points, the most by a Moc this season. She also had a season-high nine rebounds. Against Eckerd on Ja. 14, she scored 19 points, and was 8-for-9 from the field. Harris also dished out a season-high four assists and pulled fown six rebounds. Harris has scored double figures in three of the last five games. On the year, Harris is averaging 8.00 points per game and 3.4 rebounds. She has made two straight starts after coming off the bench in her first 12 games.
STREAKY
After tying their season-best with a three-game win streak from Dec. 19 to Jan. 7, the Mocs now find themselves on the losing end of a four-game streak. Offensively, FSC averaged 77.3 points per game over the most recent win streak, twice scoring a season-high 81 points (vs. Molloy on Dec. 19 and at Saint Leo on Jan. 7). On the other hand, it is scoring only 59.8 points per game over the losing stretch.
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING KNIGHTS
Lynn enters the contest at a record of 7-8 on the season, while being 1-5 in conference play. Last time out, Lynn defeated Barry, 66-45, to earn its first SSC win of the season. The Knights turned the Bucs over 28 times and they scored 27 points off of those turnovers. Sharneka McCatty (13), Shay Harris (12) and Tylar Tracy (12) had double-figures for Lynn. Harris added seven steals, six assists and two blocks. McCatty, a senior forward, leads the team with 12.6 points per game. She is one of two Knights to have started all 15 games. She has scored double-digit points in the last five straight and nine of her last 10 games. In her last 10 games, she is averaging 14.0 points and 5.4 rebounds.
Lynn is currently tied with Barry for second-to-last place in the Sunshine State Conference. Each team has a 1-5 SSC record. At 7-8 overall, the Knights lead only Saint Leo (6-10, 1-6) in the league standings. In the six-plus years under head coach Niki Washington, the Knights are 79-75. Washington has finished with a winning record only twice (19-11 in 2009-10 and 18-10 last season). Lynn has advanced to the NCAA tournament twice in the last five seasons. Last season, the Fighting Knights went 11-16 with a 4-12 SSC record. Mccatty led the 2013-14 squad with 7.3 rebounds per game and was second with 10.8 points.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. LYNN
Wednesday's game will be the 38th all-time meeting between Florida Southern and Lynn. The Mocs lead the all-time series against the Fighting Knights, 23-14. FSC holds a 13-6 advantage at home and 10-8 in road games. They split the season series against Lynn last season. The Fighting Knights won the game in Boca Raton on Jan. 11, 2014, by a final of 57-54. However, the Mocs earned their seventh and final win of 2013-14 with a 71-44 victory over Lynn at Jenkins Field House on Feb. 8, 2014. Four Mocs scored double-digit points in the 27-point win, including Ali Sanders (15), Mariah Harris (13) and Syerra Davis (12). Davis had a double-double with 11 rebounds.
