Box Score LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College women's basketball team scored early and often, defeating the visiting Barry University Buccaneers, 65-39, in Sunshine State Conference action on Saturday evening. The Mocs improve to 11-8 on the season, and 8-3 in the SSC, while Barry drops to 4-13, and 2-9 in the SSC.
Southern has now completed the season sweep of Barry, having beaten the Bucs 59-54 in Miami Shores back on November 23.
The Mocs defense was the story of the game, holding Barry to 29.4% shooting while forcing 17 turnovers and drawing three charges.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• 1st Quarter | After the Bucs took an early 4-2 lead, the Mocs responded with a three pointer from junior forward Julia Jenike and an up-and-under move from senior forward Katerina Pazzaglia-Khomenko in the paint to take a 7-4 lead. The teams traded baskets, with several ties, until there were 24 seconds left, when junior guard Marta Aranda drained a three-pointer from the left side to put the Mocs on top 17-16, where the score would stand after the first period. The Mocs would never trail in the game again.
• 2nd Quarter | The Mocs would then open the second quarter with sophomore guard Mackenzie Steele scooping in a layup to extend the lead to three points, at 19-16. Classmates Ashley Shell and Bekki Kalaydjiev would then make back-to-back layups, and the Mocs would lead 23-6, with 5:34 to play. Pazzaglia-Khomenko was next with a layup, before Steele drained a three, then another jumper from the wing. In all, the Mocs went on a 20-0 run, covering a span of just over 10:00, going back to the end of the first quarter. The run ended with a Buc free throw with 1:11 left. For the quarter, Barry was held to just that one point, having made zero field goals on 11 attempts. They made only one of their two free throw attempts in the quarter, resulting in a 36-17 score at the half.
• 3rd Quarter | Barry would miss their first two shots of the third quarter before making their first field goal in over 12 minutes of game time. The Bucs then converted a traditional three-point play, and the score was 36-22 at the 6:59 mark. Minutes later, freshman forward Marte Moe would score the Mocs' 40th point on a layup with 6:00 remaining in the quarter. With 4:16 to play, the Mocs led 40-26, heading into the media timeout. Southern's offensive onslaught continued though, with a Steele three, a Moe layup, and a Kalaydjiev three, and magically the lead was back to 20 points, at 48-28, heading into the final quarter.
• 4th Quarter | Aranda opened the scoring in the final stanza by draining a jumper from the left elbow, before Shell hit a jumper with just under eight minutes to play. The lead would extend to as many as 27, when Steele converted a three-pointer to make the score 57-30, with 6:03 remaining in regulation. The Mocs pushed the lead to as many as 28 points, on a layup from junior guard Monet Burkett. Freshman guard Morgan Windsor would score the final points for FSC, and the Mocs would go on to on to win the game by a final score of 65-39.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• In all, the lead changed just three times during the game, with five ties. The Bucs held the lead led for 2:38 of game action, while FSC led for 32:58.
• For the game, the Red and White shot 48.2% from the field, while the visitors shot 29.4%. The Mocs made six of their 18 three point shots, while none of the 17 three point attempts resulted in points for Barry.
• Florida Southern's Steele led the team with 13 points, Pazzaglia-Khomenko was the only other Moc to hit double-digit figures as she finished with 11 points.
• Kalaydjiev led the team in assists (6). Pazzaglia-Khomenko added eight rebounds while Kalaydjiev and Shell tacked on six rebounds each.
UP NEXT
• Florida Southern will head to suburban Tampa to face Saint Leo on Wednesday, January 29, before returning home to host Embry-Riddle on Saturday, February 1.
