Women's Basketball Opens 2023-24 Season Defeating UAH at the GSC/SSC Crossover

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The Florida Southern College women's basketball team opened up the season with a win, defeating the host of the Gulf South Conference / Sunshine State Conference Crossover, The University of Alabama Huntsville on Friday evening. The Moccasins (1-0, 0-0 SSC) defeated the Chargers (0-1, 0-0 GSC) 55-49. 
 
FSC was led by junior center Sarah Lange with 18 points, followed by sophomore guard Sydney Gomes with nine points off the bench and junior guard Arielle Dabu with eight. On the defensive end, junior forward Anna Denes finished with 10 boards, followed by Lange with eight. 
 
Florida Southern opened up the 2023 season with a 12-0 run in the first quarter. Lange got the scoring started with a jumper in the paint after winning the tip-off, for an early 2-0 lead with 9:47 left on the clock. 
 
From the jump, FSC put the pressure on as Dabu hit the first 3-pointer of the night, earning a 5-0 lead one minute into the game. Lange hit a second jumper, to make it 7-0 followed by Denes with a layup and an and-one, giving the Mocs a quick 10-0 lead with 7:28 remaining in the first quarter. Lange scored on her third jumper that ended the draft for the Chargers. 
 
The Mocs scored jumpers from junior guard Marissa Jenike and a layup from Amari Jackson and Lange to end the quarter with a 12-point lead to make it 18-6. 
 
In the second quarter, FSC opened it the same as the first, scoring first, this time on a free throw from Jenike. Graduate guard Domenica Zamora hit a layup to make it 22-6 with 6:28 remaining before the half. UAH went on a four-point run, but junior point guard Arriyana Bracero sank a shot beyond the arch to give FSC back a 15-point lead, 25-10. 
 
It was a 2-minute drought of no scoring, but FSC's Lange broke it with a made free throw with 2:47 remaining. The Chargers made two free throws, but sophomore point guard Na'Haviya Paxton hit a fastbreak layup to make it 28-14. That was the last shot the Mocs made before the half, going to the locker room with a 28-17 lead. 
 
After the half, both teams struggled to put up points until FSC's Dabu hit a jumper to start the scoring at the 6:31 mark. Jenike followed with a jumper at 5:52 to make it 32-17. UAH started to find its rhythm, cutting FSC's lead down to under 10 for the first time since the first quarter 
 
In the final quarter, the Chargers cut the Mocs lead down to six until Gomes sank her second 3-pointer to take back the nine-point lead. UAH had two layups, making it 43-38 before Dabu hit a layup of her own with just under six minutes remaining in the game. With the Chargers creeping in on the Mocs lead, Gomes hit her third shot from beyond arch at 4:41. The Mocs lead continued to dwindle as the Chargers came within two. UAH called a timeout with 1:44 remaining on the clock. Out of the timeout, FSC went on a 6-2 scoring run behind Lange's jumper and back-to-back layups from Denes and Zamora. With seconds on the clock, the Chargers scored on a layup that ended the game with a 55-49 victory for the Mocs. 
 
The Mocs conclude play in the GSC/SSC crossover as they face No.21/22 Lee University tomorrow. The tipoff is set for 2:00 PM ET/ 1:00 PM CT. 
 
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