LAKELAND, Fla. — Florida Southern College women's basketball closes out the 2021 portion of their schedule with a 78-48 win over Sunshine State Conference foe Rollins on Friday at Jenkins Field House at the Streamline Sale Arena in Lakeland, Florida.
"We are ready to get into 2022 and begin it the way we just ended it in 2021 hopefully" said head coach
Betsy Harris. "I was really pleased with the effort that we came out with because the first half our intensity was really good. We were a lot more aggressive on the boards because Rollins is typically a really good rebounding team, usually in the top 15 in the nation so we were definitely making sure that we try to keep them off the boards and our goal was to make sure we out rebounded them by the end of the game. It was fun to watch, I thought it was some pretty good basketball.
Sara Wohlgemuth did a great job… she played so hard, she played great, she ran the team well and is making them better; she wasn't just looking for hers she was looking for everybody else and that's what will make her a great point guard in the future"
Florida Southern improves to 5-6 overall and 3-2 in the Sunshine State.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Quarter
- Mackenzie Steele started the game off with a shot beyond the arch putting the Mocs up 3-0 with 8:40 on the clock.
- Julia Jenike added to the FSC score with a jumper to make it 5-0 with an assist from Steele.
- With the Mocs defense not allowing but one point for the Tars, Jenike got the defensive rebound and found freshman Arielle Dabu for a layup to increase the Mocs score to 7-1 with 7:00 remaining.
- Sara Wohlgemuth went to the line for two hitting one free throw to increase the Mocs lead; later Wohlgemuth collected the steal in the middle of the court setting up Florida Southern for a Jenike 3-pointer to bring the Mocs lead up to 11-3 with 5:22 left.
- Jenike continued to be hot from beyond the arc hitting her second three for a 14-5 lead over Rollins.
- Paula Real finds Steele under the net as the redshirt junior hits a jumper to increase FSC lead to nine.
- Florida Southern makes it an 11-point lead when Ashley Shell is fouled, sending the forward to the line hitting both her shots to make it an 18-7 game with 1:01 on the clock.
- Junior, Aubrey Burke gets a steal and is fouled immediately after sending Burke to the line for two. She hits both free throws and now the Mocs have a 20-7 advantage .
- With twenty-five second left on the clock, Steele sank a 3-pointer to end the half with a 23-7 advantage.
2nd Quarter
- The shots continued to fall for the Mocs beyond the arc, as this time it came from freshman Real to increase their lead to 19 points.
- An and one for freshman, Dabu as she made a fast break layup and her free throw to make it a 20 point lead at 29-9 with eight minutes left in the half.
- Jenike continued to shoot perfect from the 3-point arc going 3-3 to increase the Mocs lead to 23 with a three point bucket.
- Steele continued to take her chances from beyond the arc hitting her three-pointer to make it a 36-12 game before the Tars called a timeout with just over five minutes remaining.
- Florida Southern continued to make it rain threes as Dabu hit her first 3-pointer to increase FSC lead to 24-points.
- Jenike hit her fourth three-pointer before stepping to the line, hitting one free throw to make it 43-20 with 2:38 left in the first half.
- A missed three allowed Madlena Gerke to get the offensive rebound and the layup to end the first half with a 45-22 advantage.
3rd Quarter
- Jenike continued her hot shooting starting off the half with a jumper to start off with another 24- point lead.
- Jenike found Shell under the net to assist the redshirt junior with a layup after battling off Rollins defense.
- Jenike continued to run the third quarter hitting a jumper to make it 51-31 before going to a media timeout with just under five minutes remaining.
- The veterans continued to put the team on their back as Steele hit her fourth 3-pointer to make it a 20-point lead for the Mocs.
- The freshman took their turn sinking baskets as Dabu hit her second shot beyond the arc to make it 57-37 with under a minute in the quarter.
- A Rollins foul sent Burke to the line for two, banking both shots to end the quarter with a 59-37 lead.
4th Quarter
- The Mocs didn't see a shot fall until the 7:35 mark in the quarter when Dabu sank her third three and was fouled, sending Wilmette, Ill. native to the line and increased FSC lead to 26 with a 63-37 deficit.
- Burke hit a layup after an assist from Real giving the Moccasins the biggest lead of the contest with a 28-point difference.
- Shell camped out at the free throw line after getting fouled back-to-back going 3-for-4 from the line.
- Jenike did it again from the arc, shooting her fifth three pointer for a 31-point advantage with a 71-40 lead.
- Steele found Burke under the net hitting a layup for the juniors eight point of the game.
- Arriyana Bracero sank a 3-pointer for the Mocs, her first for a 76-46 lead.
- Bracero took down a Rollins defender for a steal and found Chyna Bullen for a layup to end the game with a 78-48 win over the Tars.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Mocs had the best start of the year shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 64.3 percent from beyond the arc.
- Graduate Student Jenike leadership showed in the first half going 4-for-5 from the three totaling 15 total points.
- Dabu had a perfect first half going 3-3 from the field; for nine points and two free throws.
- Jenike led the way the entire contest for the Mocs going 5-for-6 from the field with five 3-pointers for a total of 22 points.
- Dabu finished with a new career-high of 16 points and tied her career-high in rebounds with four.
- Steele hit a new season high with 14 points for the junior going 5-for-13 from the field hitting four 3-pointers.
- Defensively, the Moccasins were led by Shell tying her career-high of 15 boards set back in February of 2021.
UP NEXT
Florida Southern hit the road to open up the 2022 portion of the schedule with a contest at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Sunshine State Conference matchup is set to tip off at 5:30 p.m on January 5th.
