Box Score KISSIMMEE, Fla. – A spirited second-half effort and a career-high 25 points from freshman guard Jensen Blassage weren't enough as Florida Southern fell to Eckerd College, 73-59, in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament quarterfinals Thursday night at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Fla.
The Moccasins outscored the Tritons 39-31 in the second half, but the 22-point halftime deficit proved to be too large to overcome.
"The one thing with the girls, we made a lot of mistakes but they never quit, so I was really proud of them for that," said head coach Betsy Harris. "They could have easily quit, but they didn't. They kept fighting, so I am proud of them for that."
"We went out there and gave it our all, we didn't give up," said senior guard Cashala Thompson (Tucson, Ariz.) after the final game of her collegiate career.
The Mocs cut a 27-point Eckerd lead in half with a 17-4 run in a span of six-and-a-half minutes. They did most of their damage from the foul line as 11 of those 17 points came from the line. Blassage hit four straight foul shots to make it a 14-point game, 57-43, midway through the period.
The Tritons (23-6) wouldn't allow the Mocs to get any closer until senior guard Syerra Davis (Tolleson, Ariz.) hit FSC's only 3-pointer of the game to make it 71-58 with less than a minute remaining.
After shooting only two free throws in the first half, the Mocs went 16-for-18 in the second half. In addition, FSC shot over 13 percent better from the field in the second half, going 11-for-23 (47.8 percent).
"We played one good half and one bad half; that has happened throughout the whole year and it happened today," Harris said.
There was no questioning the effort Blassage displayed as she tried to lead the Mocs back into the game. She scored 17 of her team-high 25 points – the most by any Moccasin in a single game this season – in the final 20 minutes while going 8-for-12 from the field and 9-for-10 from the charity stripe overall.
Including Thursday's outing, Blassage has averaged nearly 14 points per game since the start of February after scoring just over five per in her first 17 games of the season.
"Early in the season my confidence was down just because I was a freshman coming into a new conference," said the product of Cherry Valley, Ill. "As we began to play teams a second time, they knew Syerra was aggressive, that Cash was a shooter and that we had bigs inside that could score. Once they started overplaying them, I saw that now I'm open, now I can take that shot and I can drive to the basket."
"Their little point guard, she's a really good point guard. She's the all-around ultimate point guard, and that is something Jensen is going to be," said Harris referring to Eckerd senior Kayla Bowlin.
Despite being eliminated from the SSC Tournament in the first round for the third straight season after reaching the championship game in 2011-12, Harris noted how far her team has come in her first season at the helm.
"We finished 13-14, they had seven wins last year," she explained. "We had seven conference wins, and in the last two years, the program had six. They did a lot this year and I am really proud of them for that.
"Considering the last two years, we had a great year."
For Davis and Thompson, the team's two seniors, it was the last time they would walk off the court in a Florida Southern uniform. Davis finished with 11 points in her final game, while Thompson ends her career sixth all-time in program history with 120 treys in only two seasons as a Moc.
"I am really proud of Cash and Syerra," Harris said. "I know what it feels like to not wear that uniform again."
Looking forward to 2015-16, Harris called the future of Florida Southern women's basketball bright.
"He (Eckerd head coach Paul Honsinger) has the point guard, he's got the shooter and he's got the post; when you look at every championship team, that's what they have," Harris said. "That's something that we're going to get. We're going to have that sooner rather than later. You heard it right here."
