LAKELAND, Fla. — Julia Jenike scored a season-high 31 points in Florida Southern College women's basketball's 75-59 win over Sunshine State Conference opponent Barry at the Streamline Sale Arena at the George W. Jenkins Field House.
"It's all about being consistent… The energy was so good… we need to do this every time and I've said it all along that it's all been mental with this group," said head coach
Betsy Harris. "This is the second round of conference and it's almost like you are starting all over like it's new and you leave what we just did behind us and just learn from it. So as long as we can just bring this energy every game we should be fine, that's all I ask of them… and they did a really good job tonight, I'm proud of the girls… It's all about who wants it most when you are going into the second part of the season, that's all it is."
Jenike paced Florida Southern with 31 points on 12-of-16 shooting with a 4-of-5 mark from beyond the arc.
Whitney Jacob and
Mackenzie Steele also scored in double-figures with 21 and 14 points respectively, as the Moccasins improve to 9-8 overall and 7-4 in the Sunshine State Conference. Jacob led the team in rebounding with 10 rebounds to complete the double-double.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Quarter
- Barry opened up the scoring for the game with three made free throws to take a quick lead.
- Mackenzie Steele got the scoring rolling for the Mocs less than 1:30 into the game with a 3-point jumper to beat the shot clock.
- Arielle Dabu created the Mocs first lead with a layup off an offensive rebound.
- The Mocs regained the lead and pushed the advantage out to five with 6:04 to play after Steele added two points and Julia Jenike notched five.
- Madlena Gerke hit a jump shot in the paint at the sound of the shot clock with just under three minutes to go off an assist from Domenica Zamora.
- After a steal by Jenike in the Mocs' defensive end, the graduate student brought the ball up the court where she was fouled on a made shot and completed the free throw for a three-point possession for FSC.
- Steele hit a 3-pointer with less than a minute to go in the quarter to give the Mocs their first double-digit lead of the game.
- Barry finished the quarter on a buzzer-beater three-point shot to cut the Moccasins lead to 24-20 at the break.
2nd Quarter
- Barry started off the quarter with a 3-pointer to close the Mocs lead to one.
- Jenike was fouled on a made jump shot in the paint, where she converted on the free throw for yet another three-point possession by the Mocs.
- Whitney Jacob scored her first points of the night off a layup assisted by Jenike.
- Gerke collected a rebound off a missed three to add another two points to the Moccasin lead.
- After 2:35 of scoreless action for FSC, Jenike and Jacob brought the Mocs lead back to double-digits with back-to-back 3-pointers which forced a Barry timeout.
- The Mocs ended the quarter with a lead of 41-27 over the Bucs.
3rd Quarter
- Barry started off the third quarter strong, putting up four points within the first two minutes of the quarter.
- 2:15 into the quarter Jenike scored another 3-pointer for the Mocs, stunting Barry's scoring run. Steele would add another three while the shot clock came down to three seconds.
- Another 3-pointer by Jenike kept the scoring momentum for the Mocs and once again forced Barry to take another timeout. Jenike was 9-for-13 from the field midway through the third quarter.
- Steele scored a layup off an assist from Jacob to score the 10th unanswered point of the Mocs scoring run.
- Jacob caused a turnover in the Mocs offensive end where she was fouled with just under three minutes to go in the third quarter and she sank both free throws.
- With 38 seconds to go in the quarter, Jenike hit a big 3-pointer as the Mocs finished the quarter leading by eight with a score of 58-40.
4th Quarter
- Zamora hit a three to open up the final quarter for the Moccasins.
- Another shot clock buzzer-beater to add another Jenike three to the Mocs lead.
- Jacob scored on a layup with 4:16 to go where she was fouled and added an extra point off the free throw. Jacob added another two to start her own five-point scoring run.
- After a buzzer-beater layup by Barry, the Mocs defeated the Bucs by a score of 75-59.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Jenike collected a new season-high in points tonight against Barry with 31. It's the first time a Moccasin has scored thirty points in a game since Jenike recorded a career-high 32 points on Jan. 4, 2020 against Nova Southeastern.
- With 31 points today, Jenike now has 1,060 career points as a Moccasin, and moves up to 20th on the all-time scoring list, surpassing Florida Southern alumnae Kim Billeter, Mariah Harris, and Melissa Brown.
- Zamora led all players with six assists, a new career-high, breaking her previous record of just two, set against Alabama-Huntsville on Nov. 13.
- Jacob contributed 21 points on the night, making this the first time since March 13, 2021, against Barry, that multiple players have scored 20+ points in the same game.
- Jacob added ten rebounds to earn her fourth double-double of the season. This is the first double-double by any Moccasin since Dec. 17, 2021, against Rockhurst.
- As a team, Florida Southern shot 100% from the free-throw line for the first time this season, going 6-6.
- Steele contributed 14 points, making this her third consecutive game scoring double-digits.
UP NEXT
Florida Southern will continue their home slate when the team hosts Florida Tech in a Sunshine State Conference rivalry match-up on Wednesday, Jan. 26. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
