Box Score LAKELAND - Senior Sydni Payne scored 15 points to lead a trio of Moccasins in double figures as Florida Southern defeated Palm Beach Atlantic 83-76 in a non-conference match-up here Wednesday at Jenkins FIeld House.
Payne netted just two points in the first half and added three in the third period, but exploded for 10 fourth-quarter points.
"We need Syndni to step up," said Moccasin Head Coach Betsy Harris. "We started her today and I'm glad she came out the way she did. She's a senior. We need that from her."
Jensen Blassage helped the Mocs to a 17-14 first quarter lead, scoring eight points, including a pair of threes. Her first trey capped a 7-0 run by the Mocs to start the game. Palm Beach Atlantic answered with a 10-2 run of their own to grab the lead 10-9 with 3:49 left in the opening stanza.
A three pointer from Camille Giardina gave the lead briefly back to the Moccasins before Hannah Grim tied the game with a short jumper. Blassage's second three-pointer pushed the Mocs back ahead, 15-12 with 2:30 remaining.
Florida Southern (18-3) kept momentum going in the second period, stretching its lead to seven points, twice, with the final margin coming at 4:53, 25-18, on a a free throw from Anja Fuchs-Robetin.
The Sailfish (9-11 and coming off an 88-73 upset of 12th-ranked Nova Southeastern on Saturday) chipped away at the Moccasin lead, eventually tying the game, 30-30, on a jumper by Nkiru Anyagaligbo, and again at 32-32 on a layup from Anyagaligbo with four ticks left in the first half.
PBA picked up where it left off, outscoring the host Moccasins by a 17-12 margin the first 5:21 to grab an eight point lead, 49-41. A three-pointer from Flo Ward, a jumper from Shaquita Snow, and a second trey from Ward, tied the game at 49-49 with 2:53 left in the period.
Florida Southern closed out the period with a jumper by Giardina and a three-pointer from Payne for a 54-51 lead. The Moccasins maintained the lead in the final period behind Payne's 13 points and iced the victory behind 6-of-6 free throws by Shaquita Snow in the closing 38 seconds.
"Q hit some big free thows there at the end of the game," said Harris. "I was on her pretty hard the first half, so I'm glad she was able to recover and come back."
Janelle Cannon grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for the Sailfish as PBA outrebounded the Moccasins by a 40-32 margin that included 21 offensive rebounds.
"We work on rebounding every practice. We (as coaches) are not too sure what else to do," said Harris. "It's got to be the girls. They have to have the initiative. They've got to be hungry for the rebound."
Cannon also pumed in 16 points for PBA while Hannah Grim scored a game-high 21 points. Ayanna Holmes added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Sailfish.
"Number 1 (Cannon) is perhaps as good as any player in the league." said Harris. "She only had two shots in the first half. The was our big thing to stop her in the first half."
Giardina finished with 13 points and three steals for the Mocs while Blassage totalled 11 points and a team-best six assists. Both players recorded three steals. All ten players that took the court for FSC scored at least two points and grabbed at least one rebound.
The Moccasins shot 51 percent from the floor, including a 7-of-10 effort in the final period, and connected on 11 three-pointers. The Sailfish made 43 percent of their shots, but were just 2-of-12 from three-point land.
Florida Southern returns to Sunshine State Conference play Saturday with an important match-up at Florida Tech at 2 pm. The Panthers and the Moccasins are tied for second place in the league standings as FIT lost 71-64 at first place Nova Southeastern Wednesday.
