Box Score MELBOURNE - Florida Southern rallied from a 10-point third quarter deficit to force overtime here Saturday afternoon against Florida Tech, but in overtime the Panthers outscored the Moccasins, 5-1 to post a 58-53 overtime victory in Sunshine State Conference action at the Clemente Center.
Saturday's game was a match-up for sole possession of second place in the SSC standings as both teams entered the game tied for second place.
The Mocs fell to 18-4 overall and 8-4 in the league, while Florida Tech improved to 9-3 in the league and swept the season series against the Mocs for the third consecutive season. The Panthers earned a 73-61 win in Lakeland earlier this season.
"We didn't shoot the ball very well, and were held to 53 points," Moccasin head coach Betsy Harris said following the loss that snapped her team's two game win streak. "It was a big game today, but I didn't think we played very well, but I was pleased we were able to rally down the stretch make some plays and force overtime."
In the game, the Mocs shot 31 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line and scored a season low 53 points. The Mocs scored under 55 points in two of its four losses this season and fell 0-5 in Harris' one-plus years at FSC when being held under 60 points in a game.
After FIT's Shequana Harris hit 1-of- 2 free throws to give the Panthers a 42-31 lead with 2:24 left in the third quarter, the Mocs would score the final five points of the quarter to trail 42-36 at the end of three periods.
The Panthers would jump out to a 45-38 lead with 7:34 left in the fourth quarter, before the Mocs answered with a 9-0 run to take a 47-45 lead with 3:56 remaining in regulation. The run was keyed by consecutive baskets from freshman guard Camille Giardina (Sarasota, Fla.) and capped by a lay-up from junior forward Danielle Thomas (Conyers, Ga.). In fact, Thomas' lay-up gave the Mocs its first lead of the game.
On the ensuing possession, Kailyn Ebb would convert a 3-point play to give the Panthers a 48-47 lead with 3:32 left. The Mocs would come right back and retake the lead 20 seconds later on a lay-up and subsequent free throw by freshman forward Anja Fuchs-Robetin (Vienna, Austria).
After Harris' lay-up helped Tech tie the game at 50, sophomore guard Jensen Blassage (Cherry Valley, Ill.) hit two free throws with 2:49 left to give the Mocs a 52-50 lead. Blassage finished with a team high 11 points in the loss.
The Panthers would tie the game on a bucket by Diamond Cooper with 58 seconds left in regulation.
Each team would miss baskets in the final 30 seconds to get the game tied and force overtime.
In overtime, the two teams combined to shoot 0-for-5 from the field, but Tech would go 6-for-6 at the line to outscore the Mocs and seal the overtime win and extend its win streak to six straight against the Mocs.
The Mocs played Saturday's game without senior forward Mariah Harris (Gainesville, Fla.), who missed the game for the funeral of her uncle that recently passed away. Harris the Mocs leading scorer (13.6 ppg) and rebounder (6.1 rpg).
"It will be nice to get Mariah back on Wednesday. She is a big part of our team and we missed her today," said Harris, who was looking to win her 100th career game on Saturday.
Along with Blassage's 11 points, junior guard Flo Ward (Salisbury, England) had nine points, while Giardina and Fuchs-Robetin each had eight points. Thomas, who made the start in the absence of Harris, finished with six points, six rebounds and a career-high three blocks.
Tech was paced offensively by 17 points from Harris, while DeLise Williams added 11 points and Cooper finished with 10 in the victory.
After the teams played a back-and-forth first quarter that saw the Panthers hold an 18-16 lead, the Panthers would score 13 of the first 17 points in the second quarter to push out to a 31-20 lead.
The Mocs, though, would answer with a 5-0 run to pull within 31-25. Tech would close the second quarter by scoring three of the final four points to hold a 34-26 halftime lead.
Both teams struggled to score in the third quarter as the teams combined for just 18 points and eight turnovers.
While the Mocs shot just 31 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line, Tech finished the game shooting 36 percent from the field, but was 5-for-11 (45.5 percent) from the 3-point line.
Both teams also struggled taking care of the ball as they combined for 47 turnovers as FSC tied a season high with 24 turnovers, while Tech had 23 turnovers for the game.
"We had too many turnovers. You can't do that and expect win, especially on the road" the Mocs coach added.
The Mocs will look to begin a new win streak this coming Wednesday, Feb. 10 as they host Rollins (9-11 overall, 4-7 SSC) in a 5:30 p.m. SSC game at Jenkins Field House. FSC picked up a 72-66 win over the Tars in Winter Park on Jan. 20.
