Box Score LAKELAND – A strong second-half performance allowed Florida Southern to earn the season sweep of Saint Leo Saturday night at Jenkins Field House as the Moccasins topped the Lions by a final of 70-50.
With the win over the Lions (7-15, 2-10 SSC), the Mocs (11-10, 5-6 SSC) picked up consecutive victories for the first time since defeating Barry, 70-67, on Jan. 3 and Saint Leo, 81-80, on Jan. 7.
In the first half, however, the Mocs struggled to piece together a consistent offense. They missed their first seven shots from the field and went scoreless for the first 3:54. Fortunately, the only basket the Lions made in the first 6:32 was a 3-pointer by freshman Mary Redmond, which gave them a 3-0 lead at 17:51.
The Mocs would reel off eight unanswered points to pull ahead 8-3 thanks to their veteran forward Mariah Harris and their freshman guard Jensen Blassage. Mariah Harris netted eight of the team's first 12 points. Six of those points came from the paint while the junior from Gainesville, Fla., drew double and triple teams down low. With all the attention on Mariah Harris, Blassage had plenty of room to sink a pair of jumpers, the latter giving the Mocs their largest lead of the first half at 16-10.
"We want to get it into the post, and when we get it in they (the Lions) double team and we kick it out," said Mariah Harris, who scored a game-high 16 points. "I can either dish it down to Christin (Strawbridge), or if I'm down posting and somebody else is on the baseline open, I can dish it out to one of the guards."
"When our post players score, we have a chance to win," said head coach Betsy Harris. "When they don't score, we don't have a chance to win, and that's what I've been telling them all season. A lot of successful programs, if they've got inside-out, they're going to win ballgames. Strawbridge, Mariah and 'D' (Danielle Thomas), they're going to have two or three people on them, and that's going to make it easier for the guards."
The Mocs outscored the Lions 40-to-14 in the paint. It is the second straight game FSC has scored 40-plus in the paint while limiting their opponent to less than 20.
Saint Leo, which entered the contest third in the conference in 3-pointers made per game, used the outside shot to regain the lead. Freshman guard Maggie Flynn sunk a pair of treys at 11:40 and 10:26. A 3-pointer from junior Chachi Guzman at 8:21 gave the Lions a one-point lead at 20-19.
It was a sloppy end to the half for both teams. Inside the last 10 minutes before the break, the Mocs committed seven turnovers and were only 4-for-12 from the field. The Lions held a two-point advantage at the half, 29-27, but missed 11 of their last 12 field goal attempts.
"I told them that they didn't come out with the energy that they came out with on Saturday (in the upset over No. 24 Nova Southeastern)," said Betsy Harris about her halftime speech. "I told them, 'You got family and friends who are up there disappointed in the way you're playing right now.'"
The Mocs responded by shooting 60.7 percent (17-for-28) from the field in the second half. Strawbridge (Lakeland, Fla.) scored 10 of her 14 points and senior guard Syerra Davis (Tolleson, Ariz.) nine of her 12 in the final 20 minutes.
With the hot hand, the Mocs scored 13 unanswered points to open the second half and turn a two-point deficit into an 11-point cushion. At the same time, the Lions missed their first seven attempts from the field.
Blassage (Rockford, Ill.) netted six points inside the first five minutes of the second half to help build the lead to 11 points, 40-29, at 15:06.
Saint Leo used the trey to trim the lead once again. Flynn, who finished 4-for-11 from downtown on the night, netted her third and fourth 3-pointers at 13:08 and 9:24. Her final triple of the game cut the Moccasin lead to five points, 48-43, but that was the closest the Lions would come.
FSC closed the game on a stellar run, holding the Lions to seven points while piling on 22 more. The Lions shot a mere 3-for-15 from the field in the last nine minutes. As a team, they finished with a 26.6 shooting percentage.
According to the Moccasin coach, the defensive success is a result of some recent changes.
"I'd hate to give it away," Betsy Harris said. "We changed it a little bit to where they actually enjoy it; they're communicating more. I think we're going to stick with it until we can't do it anymore."
Strawbridge was a rebound short of a double-double and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field. Blassage was two points shy of her career high – which she set in the upset over Nova Southeastern on Saturday – with 14 points and led the Mocs with four assists.
Florida Southern will take its two-game win streak on the road on Saturday, Feb. 14 when they take on No. 21 Florida Tech in Melbourne, Fla., at 2 p.m.
