Box Score LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College women's basketball team fought back from a 19-point deficit, but could not overcome the visiting Florida Tech Panthers (11-12, 7-8 SSC) on Saturday night, falling 73-70 in Sunshine State Conference action. The loss snaps a four game winning streak for the Mocs (14-9, 11-4 SSC).
Sophomore guard Bekki Kalaydjiev scored a career-high 22 points to lead all scorers, while junior forward Julia Jenike had the game's sole double-double, with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• 1st Quarter | The Mocs came up empty on their first three possessions, before Kalaydjiev drove the right side of the lane hard and made a layup at the 7:27 mark. After a few games hiatus, senior guard Elsa Landberg returned, and made a layup to trim the lead to 6-4 for the Panthers. Florida Tech responded with an 8-2 run, before Kalaydjiev and freshman Kaja Wroblewska made back-to-back buckets to bring the lead back to just four points, 14-10. But another 8-2 run for the Panthers made the score 22-12 after one.
• 2nd Quarter | Jenike scored her first two points of the game early in the second quarter. She would record nine points before the end of the first half. The Panthers made shot after shot, building a 42-28 lead into the half. Over the first 20 minutes of action, Tech shot 50.0% from the field, making 15 shots, including seven three-pointers. The Mocs, meanwhile, shot 36.4%, making 12 shots from the field and only two three-pointers.
• 3rd Quarter | Southern made adjustments at the intermission, and scored the first five points of the half. Freshman forward Aubrey Burke made a jumper, followed by a triple from Kalaydjiev, and the lead was back to single digits, at 42-33 for Florida Tech. After the Panthers ran the lead back to 14, Kalaydjiev recorded five straight points, followed by a Landberg three pointer, and suddenly the Mocs trailed by just six points, 47-41. After the second consecutive turnover for the Panthers, FSC's junior guard Marta Aranda drained a three-pointer, and suddenly the Mocs were back within one possession, down 47-44. In all, the 11-0 run got the Mocs back in the game. Tech then ran the lead back to nine. The Mocs responded, and a layup from Wroblewska with 13 seconds remaining made the score 58-57, with just ten minutes to play.
• 4th Quarter | Both teams traded baskets, with the Panthers maintaining the lead. That is, until the 4:50 mark, when Jenike recorded a traditional three-point play, and Aranda knocked down a long distance three, and the Mocs had their first lead of the game, 70-67, with 4:18 to play. Tech would respond with 5-0 run in the next minute to seize a two-point lead at 72-70, with 3:15 to play. The defensive efforts of both teams came to the forefront, with only one more point scored for the rest of the game – a free throw for Florida Tech with 11 seconds to play, creating the 73-70 final.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• After shooting 50% for the first half, Tech finished the game shooting 48.1%, making 26 baskets. Southern made 28 baskets while shooting 42.4%. Tech made 13 of 29 three point attempts, while Southern shot 9 of 28.
• Kalaydjiev had a career night with 22 points, making 8 of 13 shots from the field, including four of five from beyond the arc.
• Southern held a slim 35-34 advantage in rebounding. Jenike's 11 led all players.
• The Mocs led for 63 seconds in the ballgame.
• Landberg returned to the lineup tonight, coming off the bench to score seven points with six assists and five rebounds.
• Jenike, who entered the game as the third leading scorer in the SSC, has now recorded 835 in her college career, including her freshman year at Florida Atlantic.
UP NEXT
Southern will have back-to-back home games, beginning with tonight. The Rollins College Tars will come to Lakeland on Wednesday night, before the Mocs head to face Nova Southeastern next Saturday. That game, February 15, the Florida Southern-Nova Southeastern doubleheader will be broadcast by ESPN exclusively on ESPN.com and the ESPN app. Division II is in its second year of its current regular season media agreement, where the division streams 18 basketball games exclusively on ESPN3 through ESPN.com and the ESPN App. Eighteen additional basketball games and 6-10 other sports are streamed in a hybrid model that consists of online distribution and could involve local TV.
