LAKELAND, Fla. - The Florida Southern College women's basketball team opened 2024 with a tough loss to Sunshine State Conference foe Nova Southeastern University as the fight fell short 64-53 on Wednesday evening in Jenkins Field House.
The Moccasins (7-5, 0-5 SSC) battled back after the half, but the Sharks' (9-3, 4-1 SSC) strong third-quarter rally made it difficult for FSC to come close to NSU's lead.
It is always a hard battle between the two teams as Nova Southeastern attacked early with a 3-pointer within the first minute of play.
Arielle Dabu tied it up with a 3-pointer as the clock hit nine minutes.
It remained at 3-3 until the Sharks increased it to a four-point lead with back-to-back layups.
Domenica Zamora hit her first shot of the night to bring FSC within two. Nova Southeastern's momentum continued to rise as they got out to a seven-point lead to end the first quarter of play, 16-9.
Florida Southern's shots finally started to fall at the end of the second quarter, as they had to fight back from a 27-18 deficit.
Sarah Lange went on a 5-0 run allowing FSC to go into the half down by four, 27-23.
Out of the halftime break, The Mocs tied the game with a fastbreak layup from
Sydney Gomes, making it 29-all. The Sharks quickly answered with an 11-0 run as there was 4:38 remaining in the third quarter. Zamora and
Marissa Jenike would bring FSC within nine points to close the quarter as Zamora hit two shots and Jenike sank a shot beyond the arc to open up the fourth, 48-36.
Nova Southeastern went on a 13-5 run that gave the Sharks a 20-point lead the most of the night, making it tough for the Mocs to work back from. The Mocs never gave up as Zamora hit two threes that cut NSU's lead to nine, but the Sharks took the first game of the season between the two teams, 64-53.
Despite the loss, Zamora earned a season-high 15 points, followed by Lange with nine in the paint.
Florida Southern hits the road on Saturday, Jan. 6 as they travel to Melbourne to take on Florida Tech in a conference matchup. The tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
