FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Florida Southern College women's basketball team traveled to face the 4th-seed Nova Southeastern University in the quarterfinal round of the Sunshine State Conference tournament. The Moccasins battled the entire game, coming away victorious defeating the Sharks 69-67 on Tuesday afternoon.
With the win, FSC improves to 15-13 overall, while NSU falls to 21-8 and will await the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday.
Florida Southern got out to a quick early start with graduate student
Ashley Shell leading the charge with back-to-back layups and a free throw to put the Mocs up 5-2. Sophomore
Arielle Dabu sank a 3-pointer to increase FSC's lead to 8-2.
Nova Southeastern tied the game up at 8-8 and took the lead for the first time off a two free-throw. Shell tied the game at 10-all before a Sharks shot beyond the arc took a 13-10 lead. Freshman
Sydney Gomes answered back with a 3-pointer of her own to tie the game once again.
The Sharks went on a 9-2 run and that forced the Mocs to end the first quarter down 25-17.
The Mocs went on an 8-0 run in three minutes of action to open the second quarter and close the gap to 27-26 with layups from freshman
Amari Jackson, junior
Maria Llorente, and Shell.
FSC and NSU continued the back and forth action throughout the next two minutes as Dabu hit a long two to make it 34-30, Sharks, before the first media timeout.
After the timeout, the Mocs continued to put pressure on the Sharks, re-taking the lead with a 3-pointer from Llorente and a jumper from Dabu for a 35-34 FSC lead. Nova Southeastern scored to reclaim a one-point lead but sophomore
Anna Denes hit a jumper followed by a Shell layup to take the lead back, 39-36. FSC's defense kept NSU to just 11 points in the second quarter and came down with 10 boards. Senior
Domenica Zamora was fouled with 12 seconds left in the frame and sank both shots to send the Mocs into the locker room with a 41-36 lead.
Nova Southeastern scored first to open up the second half, but an and-one for Shell opened up the Mocs scoring 44-39. The Sharks were able to come within one of the Mocs leads, but FSC continued to put pressure on NSU.
It was a scoring drought for 3:31 as the score remained 47-45, in favor of Florida Southern. The Sharks tied the game with a layup, but Denes hit a layup and one to make it 52-49. Gomes ended the quarter with a long 3-pointer from the right quarter to make it 55-49, Moccasins.
Zamora opened up the final quarter with a 3-pointer from Gomes to give the Mocs a nine-point cushion. The Sharks ran down to hit a three of their own but Dabu drilled another Moccasin 3-pointer to force Nova Southeastern to take a timeout at 8:58 down by nine.
Nova Southeastern went on a 9-0 run, to tie the game at 61-all until Gomes hit a layup to take the lead back. The Sharks tied it back up with a jumper, and NSU took a two-point lead for the first time since the first half with 3:27 remaining making it 67-65.
Denes tied the game back up with back-to-back layups, and Gomes was fouled under the net sending her to the line. Gomes sank both shots to take back the Mocs lead with 11.4 seconds remaining.
Nova Southeastern couldn't make the bucket in the final seconds as Florida Southern upset the 4th-seeded Sharks with a 69-67 final.
Shell and Dabu led the way for the Mocs with 14 points apiece, followed by Gomes with 13 points. Denes had the defensive side of the ball coming down with eight boards.
UP NEXT
The Mocs will face the top-seeded University of Tampa Spartans on Thursday evening. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
