LAKELAND, Fla. - Maddy Springfield's three-pointer with five seconds left in regulation proved to be the difference as Florida Southern College women's basketball fell to Bentley, 65-62, on Saturday afternoon at Streamline Sale Arena at Jenkins Field House. The Moccasins (2-2) led for more than 32 minutes but were unable to fend off the Falcons (2-1) as Mackenzie Steele's attempt at a game-tying three at the buzzer bounced off the rim as time expired.

Katerina Pazzaglia-Khomenko tallied her first career double-double for the Mocs with 17 points and 11 rebounds, but Springfield scored 23 off the bench for Bentley as the Falcons used 27 fourth-quarter points to slip away with the win. Bentley shot an incredible 76.9 percent (10-of-13) in the final 10 minutes of action and used a 9-0 run in the fourth to overcome a 53-44 deficit with 7:46 to play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• 1st Quarter | Florida Southern was lights-out in the early stages, going up 6-0 at the 6:45 mark of the first quarter and leading 10-2 when Pazzaglia-Khomenko hit a jumper with 5:03 on the clock. Bentley was able to claw its way back by scoring 10 of the next 15 points to make it 15-12 with 1:11 to go, but Bekki Kalaydjiev hit a shot from half-court at the buzzer to make it 18-12 after one quarter of play.
• 2nd Quarter | After finding itself up by six (20-14) with 7:35 to play in the second, Southern gave up back-to-back threes to the Falcons as Bentley tied things at 20-20 with just over five minutes to go in the first half. The Mocs countered with six unanswered points to go back in front 26-20, but the Falcons were able to pull within three (28-25) with 1:16 on the clock. A pair of free throws from Julia Jenike and a layup from Pazzaglia-Khomenko would give Florida Southern a 32-25 lead at the half.
• 3rd Quarter | The Moccasins would grab their largest lead of the game (38-27) when Marte Moe made a layup at the 8:04 mark of the third quarter and seemed to have the game in control, but Bentley slowly chipped away and was able to whittle the deficit to just six (44-38) at the end of the third.
• 4th Quarter | After going back up by nine (47-38) on Steele's three-pointer early in the fourth, the Mocs saw their lead start to slowly slip away as the Falcons went on a 15-6 run to tie the game at 53-53 on Monica Vipiano's jumper at the 5:39 mark, and the teams would trade jabs from there. Down two (62-60) with 35 seconds to go, Ashley Shell hit a layup to tie things for the Moccasins, but Springfield nailed a long three-pointer from the right wing with five ticks left to give Bentley a 65-62 edge. Steele had a solid look at the last shot of the game, but the ball hit the back iron and bounced out.
• In addition to Pazzaglia-Khomenko's 17 points, Julia Jenike (13) and Steele (11) also scored in double figures. The Falcons finished with four in double figures, led by Springfield's game-high 23.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Florida Southern fell to 2-4 all-time against Bentley, including a 2-2 record when facing the Falcons at home. Saturday's contest was the first meeting between the teams since Dec. 29, 2003, a 65-58 win for the Moccasins.
• The Mocs outscored the Falcons 15-0 on second-chance points but were outscored 26-16 in the paint and 42-23 off the bench. There were 10 ties and 12 lead changes in the game.

UP NEXT

• Florida Southern opens Sunshine State Conference action at Embry-Riddle (Nov. 20) and Barry (Nov. 23) before heading to the MWSU Thanksgiving Classic in St. Joseph, Mo. for games against Northwest Missouri State (Nov. 29) and Missouri Western State (Nov. 30).