Box Score FORT LAUDERDALE, FL - Florida Southern College women's basketball overcame an early six-point deficit to earn a key Sunshine State Conference win, 70-63, over Nova Southeastern on Saturday at NSU Arena.
With the win, the Moccasins (10-4, 6-1 SSC) moved past the Sharks (9-6, 5-2) for sole possession of second place in the conference. The victory also marked FSC's's first win at Nova Southeastern in nearly five years.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Florida Southern jumped out by four points (10-6) in the early stages of the first quarter, but the Sharks reeled off a 14-4 run to take a 20-14 lead withh 3:12 to go in the opening period. The Mocs were able to tie the game at 23-23 before NSU hit a free throw to take a 24-23 lead after the first quarter.
• On FSC's first possession of the second quarter, Giulia Simioni would hit a fastbreak layup to give the Mocs a 25-24 lead, and Florida Southern would never trail again.
• The Moccasins would use a 14-5 run over the first 7:20 of the second quarter to build a double-digit lead (39-29) and took a 41-33 advantage into the half.
• Nova Southeastern was able to cut the the deficit to just five points (41-36) with a three-pointer to open the third quarter, but the Mocs held their ground and maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the quarter, taking a 58-46 edge into the final period.
• In the fourth quarter, Florida Southern would see its lead swell to 16 points (62-46), but the Sharks stormed back to pull within four points (64-60) with 3:07 to play. The Moccasins would clamp down defensively, holding NSU to just three points the rest of the way.
• While both teams shot better than 45.0 percent from the floor, the big difference came at the free-throw line, where Florida Southern went 21-of-23 while Nova Southeastern went just 11-of-18.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Florida Southern improved to 17-18 all-time against Nova Southeastern, including 7-10 when playing the Sharks on the road. The Moccasins had lost five-straight road games to NSU prior to Saturday's win.
• Camille Giardina led the Moccasins with 17 points on 6-of-13 from the floor. Anja Fuchs-Robetin (16) and Giannia Vastola (16) also scored in double figures, and each pulled down six rebounds. Elsa Landberg dished out a game-high five assists.
• The Mocs forced 18 NSU turnovers, and converted them into 26 points. FSC finished with 10 steals on the day, with Fuchs-Robetin, Landberg and Vastola each grabbing two.
• Florida Southern led for 30:27 of the contest while NSU led for 6:32. The game was tied for a total of 3:01.
UP NEXT
• Florida Southern returns home next week for a pair of SSC contests against Florida Tech (Jan. 11) and first-place Eckerd (Jan. 14). The Moccasins play four of their next five games at Jenkins Field House.
