Moccasin SSC Tournament Notes
LAKELAND – First-year head coach Betsy Harris has her Florida Southern women's basketball team prepared to make some noise in the 2015 Sunshine State Conference Tournament.
SSC Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket
SSC Tournament Central
SSC Women's Basketball Tournament Record Book
The sixth-seeded Moccasins (13-13, 7-9 SSC) will square off against Eckerd College (22-6, 11-5 SSC), the third seed, on in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Fla.
Under the direction of Harris, the Mocs have seen a drastic improvement from their two previous seasons. This season was FSC's first with non-losing record since 2011-12. The seven conference wins are also one more than the last two seasons combined. In 2013-14, FSC limped into the postseason tournament with a 2-14 SSC record and was eliminated in the first round by Rollins.
After a rough stretch in the month of January, the Mocs overcame some major hurdles to win four of their last seven games, including upsets over then-No. 24 Nova Southeastern, the SSC regular-season champion, and Tampa, which earned the fifth seed.
"I think it helped them to gain some confidence," Harris said. "Now they know they have the ability to beat anybody they want to when they come to play.
"We had to teach them how to win, and now that they have had a taste of it, it upsets them when they lose. Before when they lost, they were used to it, but now they have a little bit of an attitude, in a good way. They get mad about things when they don't go their way. Before they were too nice, and it's hard to win with a bunch of nice girls."
One of the obstacles FSC had to overcome was having only eight healthy players. After junior guard Shaquita Snow (Orange Park, Fla.) went down with a season-ending knee injury in December, sophomore guard Morgan Siebka (Slippery Rock, Pa.) suffered a season-ending knee injury against Palm Beach Atlantic on Jan. 31, and sophomore forwards Gianna Vastola (Sarasota, Fla.) and Christin Strawbridge (Lakeland, Fla.) have missed the last 10 and four games, respectively.
With four starters out, that gave others the opportunity to shine, including freshman Jensen Blassage. After seeing limited playing time in the first half of the season, Blassage was inserted into the starting lineup for the last 14 games and matured each time she took the floor. The Cherry Valley, Ill., native averaged 12.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game in the month of February. She also recorded her first career double-double with 17 points and 10 boards against the Spartans on Feb. 25.
"She's a ballplayer," said Harris about her team's only rookie. "I'm sure being a freshman she'll be a little nervous (in the postseason tournament). Once she's out there for a couple of minutes, she'll simmer down. We need her to continue playing like she has been at the end of the season."
Other players who stepped up in the absence of their teammates include junior Mariah Harris. The forward from Gainesville, Fla., had five double-digit games in the last seven, and she finished with a team-high 10.1 points per game in league play. Senior Syerra Davis (Tolleson, Ariz.) scored double figures in five of her last six games and junior Sydni Payne (Conyers, Ga.) netted 16 points in the upset over Tampa.
While the Mocs were swept in the two-game season series, Betsy Harris believes her team is capable of taking the third tilt from the Tritons. Last time out against Eckerd on Feb. 18, the Tritons defeated the Mocs, 73-65, in St. Petersburg. FSC led by one at halftime, 26-25, but fell behind by as much as 15 in the second half. The Mocs came within four inside the last four minutes, but deficit proved to be insurmountable. Although junior Ali Sanders (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) scored a season-high 18 points, Blassage found herself in foul trouble early and finished with just two points before fouling out. Sophomore forward Danielle Thomas (Conyers, Ga.) also fouled out.
A cleaner game, plus the potential return of Strawbridge and Vastola, could spell a different outcome.
"We'll need to stay out of foul trouble first of all," Betsy Harris said. "Having 'G' and 'Bridge' back will help Syerra. We'll be able to put her back at guard even though she's played well at the four. Before we only had only guard on the bench and that was Ali. It will allow us to rest players better."
The Mocs have lost two straight SSC Tournament games since advancing to the championship game in 2012, where they fell 71-68 to Rollins. FSC has claimed an SSC-best 10 tournament titles since the postseason event began in 1982.
FSC has posted a 42-23 record in the SSC Tournament and is making its 34th all-time appearance. Along with winning 10 titles (1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2011), the Mocs have had eight runner-up finishes (1982, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2012).
Eckerd, meanwhile, is making its 26th all-time appearance. The Tritons, who have lost five consecutive tournament games, have a 7-25 all-time record in the tournament.
The 2015 SSC Women's Basketball Championship Tournament will be held at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, beginning with four games in the first round on Thursday, March 5, and concluding with the title game on Sunday, March 8 at 1 p.m., which will be aired on ESPN3.
General admission tickets are $10.00. Admission for children under the age of six and SSC students with a valid school ID are free. For more information, click here.
