Box Score MIAMI SHORES, Fla. - Florida Southern fell below .500 for the first time this season after suffering its third straight loss by a final of 60-48 at the hands of Sunshine State Conference foe Barry Wednesday night.
Struggles continued for the Moccasin (9-10, 3-6 SSC) offense against the Buccaneers. It was the third straight game that the Mocs were unable to surpass the 50-point plateau. Although they hit 46.3 percent of their shots from the field in the home win over Barry on Jan. 3, the Mocs shot only 34.5 percent (19-55) in the rematch.
"It's the third game in a row where we haven't even gotten to 50 points," said first-year head coach Betsy Harris. "If you look at all of the games, every game we have lost we scored 60 or less except for two. We just can't score the ball, we are struggling with that.
"All we can do is move forward."
The Bucs (11-10, 3-7 SSC), on the other hand, went 26-for-51 from the floor (51.0 percent). It was the first time the Mocs allowed an opponent to shoot over 50.0 percent since the Jan. 14 matchup against Eckerd.
Barry scored four unanswered points inside the first minute of the game. From there, the Mocs went on a 7-0 run, sparked by a 3-pointer from senior guard Cashala Thompson. Sophomore forward Christin Strawbridge (Lakeland, Fla.) netted consecutive jumpers to give FSC a 7-4 advantage.
From there, the Bucs scored 14 straight points and never relinquished the lead. Kayla Richardson scored seven of those points en route to her game-high 16.
Senior guard Syerra Davis (Tolleson, Ariz.) twice reduced the deficit to seven, sandwiching a pair of jump shots around on from Barry's Nyjah Porcher. Freshman guard Jensen Blassage made it a five-point game, 18-13, with 7:31 left before halftime on a pair of successful free throws.
FSC followed with a five-plus minute scoring drought while Barry extended the lead to double digits and kept it there for the remainder of the contest. The Bucs led 32-17 at the break.
Thompson scored another trey 1:54 into the second half. The Tucson, Ariz., native now has 107 3-pointers in her FSC career as she continues to climb the program's record books. She is currently sixth all-time in made 3-point field goals.
Blassage scored four straight points on a pair of jump shots, the latter at 14:17, and the Bucs led, 42-27.
Junior Ali Sanders spurred a 7-1 run late in the period. The guard from Sleepy Hollow, Ill., sunk a pair of free throws to begin the run and she capped it off with a trey with 4:18 to go, making it a 54-40 Buccaneer lead.
The Mocs then scored eight of the last 10 points of the game to reach the final tally. Junior guard Sydni Payne (Conyers, Ga.) scored four of her seven points in the final 3:30. With 21 seconds remaining, she stole a pass from Porcher at mid-court and went the distance for the layup.
Strawbridge led the Mocs with 10 points. Blassage scored eight. Strawbridge, Blassage and junior forward Kelli Schramm (Roseville, Minn.), who scored a season-high four points, each had a team-high six rebounds.
Florida Southern returns home Saturday, Feb. 7, to take on No. 24 Nova Southeastern (16-4, 8-2 SSC) at 5:30 p.m.
