Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, FL - Florida Southern College women's basketball started off cold and never got going in a 71-47 loss to Rollins in the first round of the NCAA South Regional on Friday at the McArthur Center.
The Moccasins (20-10) did not hit a field goal in the first quarter as the Tars (21-7) raced out to a 9-0 lead and never trailed. Florida Southern entered the game as the No. 4 seed, while Rollins came in as the No. 5 seed and will face No. 1 Eckerd in the South Region semifinals on Saturday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Florida Southern did not score its first point until Anja Fuchs-Robetin made a pair of free throws with 3:32 to go in the first quarter. By that point, Rollins had already built a 9-0 lead and was never really threatened the rest of the way.
• The Tars led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter as the Mocs managed to score just six points, all from the charity stripe, in the game's first 10 minutes. Rollins led by double digits until Fuchs-Robetin put in a layup with 6:33 to go in the first half to pull the Mocs within eight (23-15), but it was all the closer Florida Southern would get.
• Rollins entered the second half with a 13-point lead (35-22) and pushed it to as many as 25 points (60-35) late in the third quarter.
• The Tars never led by less than 22 points in the fourth quarter as they picked up their first-ever win over the Mocs in the NCAA Tournament.
• Florida Southern shot just 26.4 percent (14-of-53) on the night, while Rollins connected on 47.5 percent (29-of-61) of its attempts. The Tars went 9-of-16 from long range, but went just 4-of-9 at the free-throw line. The Mocs went 4-of-19 from deep and 15-of-20 at the charity stripe.
• Rollins grabbed 39 rebounds to Florida Southern's 34 and forced the Moccasins into 14 turnovers, which it turned into 13 points. The Tars' bench outscored the Mocs' bench 27-7.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Florida Southern fell to 10-12 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 7-5 in the first round. The Moccasins also dropped to 50-47 all-time against Rollins, and 7-10 when facing the Tars on a neutral court.
• The Moccasins were the only higher seed to lose on Friday as No. 1 Eckerd, No. 2 West Florida and No. 3 Benedict all advanced to the second round.
• Jensen Blassage was Florida Southern's lone double-digit scorer with 17 points. She also tied for a team-high six rebounds and dished out three assist.
• Blassage ended the season with 924 career points, needing just 76 as a senior to become the 21st player in school history with 1,000 career points.
