Box Score LAKELAND, Fla. – #3 Florida Southern College's (19-11) run in the Sunshine State Conference Women's Basketball Championship presented by Jimmy John's came to an end tonight. Southern lost to #2 Eckerd (23-5), 74-60.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• 1st Quarter | After a forced turnover by the Tritons defense the offense came down the court and gave the home team an early 3-0 lead. Junior Julia Jenike pulled the Mocs within one and then senior Katerina Pazzaglia-Khomenko gave the visitors their first lead of the game at 4-3. Over the next minute, the Tritons would jump out to an 8-7 lead and the teams would trade leads over the next minute. This would begin a 4-0 run that Eckerd would take a 13-9 lead with 4:57 remaining. Southern's offensive shooting would go cold as everything began to fall for the Tritons. Over the final two minutes of the quarter, the Mocs would get some big stops but were unable to capitalize at the other end of the court. Eckerd would take a 22-13 lead into the second quarter.
• 2nd Quarter | Eckerd would open the second quarter with a layup to take the first double-digit lead of the game. As nothing would fall for the Mocs, the Tritons took advantage of the offensive woes of their visitors. The home team would use a pair of 5-0 runs to grow their lead to nearly 20. Southern's first field goal in nearly seven minutes would come off the hands of Bekki Kalaydjev as she put the score at 36-20 with 2:55 remaining in the quarter. Eckerd would use another 5-0 run over the final 95 seconds of the half to take a 21-point lead at the half.
• 3rd Quarter | The Mocs would come out of the halftime break with urgency freshman Kaja Wroblewska made her way to the basket for two points. Southern would quickly get the ball back on a bad inbound pass by the home team but was unable to capitalize as the Tritons defense forced a missed shot by the Mocs. Florida Southern would go 4-for-8 from the line and 7-for-16 from the field as they inched their way back into the game. Eckerd would hold a 58-41 lead heading into the final quarter.
• 4th Quarter | Eckerd opened the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 22-point advantage. This would spark a massive and much-needed run for the visitors. Junior Marta Aranda would begin an 11-0 run for Southern as she put home a layup. K. Wroblewska would draw a foul on the layup and complete the 3-point play as she drained the free throw. Jenike would hit both free throws and follow it up with a jumper to cut the home team lead to 10 at 65-55. This would be the smallest lead for EC since the first quarter. The Mocs shooting would fall flat as they hit no field goals over the final 3:46. Eckerd would add a pair of free throws with 26 seconds left to all but seal the win. As the clock hit 0.0 Eckerd would advance to the SSC championship title game for the second straight year with a 74-60 victory over the Mocs.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Three different Mocs scored in double figures, led by Jenike with 16. Pazzaglia-Khomenko and K. Wroblewska added 14 apiece.
- As a team, Florida Southern shot 39.0% from the floor.
- The Eckerd dominated nearly every stat category including on the boards, 38-27.
- Southern had nine assists on 22 baskets. sophomore guard Kalaydijev led the Mocs with four, Jenike added two, while K. Wroblewska, Mackenzie Steele and Ashley Shell recorded one each.
- Jenike scored 16 points tonight, bringing her career to 957points, including her freshman year at Florida Atlantic.
UP NEXT
The Mocs will await to see their fate for the NCAA Division II South Regional. The Mocs currently sit with a regional ranking of seven. The top-eight rankings will make out the regional bracket. Three automatic qualifiers will include the conference tournament champions from the Sunshine State Conference, the Gulf South Conference, and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
