Box Score WEST PALM BEACH - Florida Southern concluded the non-conference portion of its 2014-15 schedule here Saturday afternoon by suffering a disappointing 53-47 loss to Palm Beach Atlantic at Rubin Arena on the PBA campus.
The Mocs, who fell to 9-9 on the season with the setback, couldn't recover from a 14-0 deficit in the game's opening four-plus minutes to fall to the Sailfish for just the second time in school history.
"We didn't come ready to play today," Moccasin head coach Betsy Harris said following the game. "Our basketball team needs to become more consistent in order to be a more successful."
FSC, who trailed 34-22, outscored Palm Beach Atlantic (8-15), 25-19 in the second half.
In fact, the Mocs trailed by four points several times in the final six minutes of the game, the final time at 51-47 with 1:30 left in the game on a basket by senior guard Syerra Davis (Tolleson, Ariz.).
FSC's comeback was aided by poor shooting from PBA as the Sailfish 27 percent from the field and 13 percent (1-for-8) from the 3-point in the second half.
The Sailfish, though, sealed the win on a lay-up by Janelle Cannon with 1:02 left in the game. Cannon finished the game with 13 points, but was just 4-for-18 from the field in the win.
FSC was paced offensively for the game by 12 points from sophomore forward Christin Strawbridge (Lakeland, Fla.). Strawbridge scored eight of her points after halftime.
In addition to Strawbridge, Davis and sophomore forward Danielle Thomas (Conyers, Ga.) each had eight points in the loss. Along with her eight points, Davis pulled down a career-high 14 points and tied a career high with seven assists and Thomas collected a career nine boards.
"Syerra played well today, but we need to get more consistency from the rest of the players," the Mocs coach said.
It appeared early on in the game, the Mocs might lose by double figures as PBA jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the game's opening four-plus minutes as FSC missed its first three shots and committed six turnovers that led to nine of those 14 Sailfish points.
The Mocs scored their first points of the game on a jumper from junior guard Ali Sanders (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) with 15:01 left in the half.
Following Sanders' basket, the Sailfish would use a 15-9 run over the next seven minutes to pull out to a 29-11 lead with 6:21 remaining in the opening half.
The Mocs, though, would close the half on an 11-5 run to go into halftime trailing 34-22. FSC's first half closing run began with back-to-back baskets from Thomas and was capped by a free throw from Jensen Blassage (Rockford, Ill.).
Turnovers and poor free throw shooting were the differences in the first half as FSC was 2-for-8 from the line and committed 13 turnovers, while PBA had five turnovers and was 5-for-7 at the line.
Along with Cannon's 13 points, Denisa Domiterova also tallied 13 points, including 11 in the first half. Nkiru Anyagaligbo finished with eight points and seven boards for the game.
On the day, FSC finished the game shooting 34 percent from the field and 7.7 percent (1-for-13) from the 3-point line, while PBA shot 30 percent from the field and 25 percent from the 3-point line.
The Mocs held a 51-42 edge on the boards, but committed 23 turnovers for the game. PBA finished the game with 14 turnovers.
PBA was also strong at the free throw as they finished 7-for-9 at the line and the Mocs went 2-for-10 from the charity stripe.
FSC will begin the second-half of Sunshine State Conference play on Wednesday, Feb. 4 with a 5:30 p.m. game at Barry (10-10, 2-7 SSC). The Mocs opened SSC play with a 70-67 win over the Buccaneers in Lakeland on Jan. 3.
