LAKELAND, Fla. - The Florida Southern College women's basketball team opened up the Century Retail Christmas Classic with a 59-57 win over the University of Illinois Springfield on Friday afternoon.
The Moccasins (6-3, 0-3 SSC) returned to their winning ways as
Domenica Zamora and
Sarah Lange led the way with 12 points apiece, followed by
Marissa Jenike with 10 to finish the double-digit scoring. On the defensive end,
Sydney Gomes came down with 10 boards, nine being defensive, and Zamora finished with eight rebounds.
The entire first quarter FSC had to battle back, tying it up to open play at 9:10 with a
Sarah Lange jumper to make it 2-2. Illinois Springfield jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but Lange answered back with back-to-back layups in the paint, giving the Mocs a 6-5 lead.
The Prairie Stars rallied, going on a 5-0 run, and took back the lead, 12-6.
Amari Jackson singled-handedly tied the game back up, hitting two jumpers and a layup with the clock counting down and just under two minutes left in the first quarter, 12-12.
UIS sank a shot beyond the arch to get a 13-12 lead, but Jenike made a jumper to end the quarter down by one, 15-14.
The second quarter opened with a Prairie Stars layup, but Mocs
Reagan White hit a 3-pointer to tie it up 17-17. From there, FSC never gave up the lead, going on a 20-11 run to go into halftime with a 37-28 lead after consecutive 3-pointers from Zamora and
Anna Denes.
Arielle Dabu opened up the third quarter with a layup to make it 39-28 with 7:12 on the clock, giving the Mocs their biggest lead of the game. UIS turned up their pressure on the defensive end, going on a 19-8 run of their own to end the quarter, 47-47.
Illinois Springfield hit a jumper to open up the fourth quarter to get back the lead for the first time since the first quarter, 49-47. Jenike scored eight of her 10 points in the fourth quarter, connecting on two 3-pointers and a jumper. The Mocs went up four with under three minutes remaining. The Prairie Stars never gave up, cutting it to one with less than a minute to go.
Zamora put the Mocs up two with a made free throw, and UIS wasn't able to convert on their final possession as Gomes came down with her 10th rebound of the game. Florida Southern came away with a win, 59-57, to return to winning ways.
FSC returns to action tomorrow, Dec. 16 with the final game of the Century Retail Christmas Classic as they face Lewis University. The tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
