SAINT LEO, Fla. - Florida Southern women's basketball escaped Saint Leo in overtime with a 78-76 win Wednesday evening. With the win, Southern extends their incredible win streak to eight games and improves their record to 16-8 overall and 14-4 in the Sunshine State Conference.
Late in the fourth quarter,
Sara Wohlgemuth sank a free throw to tie the game at 70-70 and send the Mocs into overtime. The Mocs outscored the Lions 8-6 in overtime to secure the win.
"I'm proud of the girls for overcoming some adversity against a tough team to squeak out the
win," said FSC head coach
Betsy Harris. "The charges by Julia (Jenike) and Mack (Steele) were huge."
Whitney Jacob and
Julia Jenike led Southern as they combined for 46 points. Jacob scored 23 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and had two assists. Jenike put up 23 points and had a
season-high nine rebounds.
Mackenzie Steele joined the duo in double-digit scoring with 13 points. Wohlgemuth added a game-high eight assists, scored eight points, grabbed four rebounds, and knocked down some clutch free throws late in the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions jumped out to an early lead with a 6-0 run to open the first quarter. However, Jacob clawed the Mocs back into the game, scoring nine points in less than three minutes to
bring FSC within one point of the Lions. J. Jenike put up eight points over the next
three minutes to give the Mocs a slight lead. Florida Southern closed out the quarter with a 21-14 lead behind a 12 point quarter for Jacob.
Saint Leo opened the second quarter with an 11 point run that was answered with only three
points from the Mocs off of a J. Jenike three. The Lions continued to pour on the offensive
attack, putting up 20 points in the quarter. However, Wohlgemuth managed a contested
lay-up and a pair of free throws, which, combined with a few buckets and a pair of free throws
from Jacob, was enough to tie the game as they entered the locker room at 34-34.
The first five minutes of the third were dominated by an 8-2 Saint Leo run.
Ashley Shell snapped the run by scoring in the paint and drawing contact from a defender to force a three-point play.
Then, Wohlgemuth, J. Jenike, and Jacob all sank a pair of free throws to cut the Lion's lead to
one. Steele added an and-one lay-up and sank the free-throw to tie the game up. On
the next offensive possession, J. Jenike put back an offensive rebound to give the Mocs their
first lead since early in the second quarter. Southern led 55-52 going into the fourth.
The Mocs relinquished the lead in the first few minutes of the quarter as the Lions went on a six-point unanswered run. But, with 7:34 remaining in the game, Steele drained an open three to tie it up at 58-a-piece. On the next offensive possession, Wohlgemuth rifled a pass to Jacob in the paint for the score to elevate FSC over Saint Leo with less than seven minutes remaining.
With just over five minutes remaining, Steele drained another three to extend the lead to four points. A pair of free throws from J. Jenike extended the Mocs lead to five, inside the four-minute mark. However, Saint Leo answered with a pair of free throws themselves.
Domenica Zamora responded with a back-door cut and an assist from Jacob to re-extend their lead to five. Zamora scored another two points at the free-throw line on the next offensive possession. However, Saint Leo managed to claw their way back into the game on a 6-0 run to cut Southern's lead to one. In the final seconds of regulation, Saint Leo knocked down two free throws to take a one-point lead. Then, with only two seconds remaining, Wohlgemuth went one-for-two at the free-throw line to send the game into overtime.
J. Jenike struck first in overtime with a floater to the basket. Saint Leo answered with a hard drive to the paint and the finish at the rim. Saint Leo then scored again on a drive to reclaim the lead. Steel answered as she knocked down a deep two to tie it up at 74-all. The next bucket came as Jacob sank a free throw to take the lead. Then, Jenike euro-stepped in the paint to extend the lead to three. Saint Leo answered with a deep jump shot to bring it within one. With only a few seconds remaining, Saint Leo opted to foul Wohlgemuth, who drained the first free throw and missed the second. The miss forced Saint Leo to grab a rebound and throw up a prayer from well beyond half court, which did not go. Southern won 78-76.
