LAKELAND, Fla. - The Florida Southern College women's basketball team kicked off Sunshine State Conference action on Wednesday evening falling to Eckerd College 72-65 after trailing the majority of the game and taking the lead in the final quarter.
The Moccasins (1-2, 0-1 SSC) had to finish with double-digit scores led by
Sydney Gomes with 19 points and followed by
Arriyana Bracero with 11. On the defensive end,
Lily Randgaard came away with 10 defensive boards to total FSCs 31 rebounds on the night. For the Tritons (2-1, 1-0 SSC) they had four end with double digits figures led by Ieva Korzane with 19 points.
Florida Southern struggled in the opening minutes of action falling to a 9-0 deficit, until
Anna Denes put up the first Moc points on a layup to make it 9-2. With already a double-digit lead Eckerd continued to increase the Tritons' lead, leading by as much as 16 points making FSC have to fight back heading into the second quarter.
The Mocs started to chip away at the Tritons' lead as Bracero hit a jumper to cut the lead to 35-22. A pair of made free throws and a Randgaard fastbreak layup allowed FSC to cut the lead down even more to single digits, 35-26 but an Eckerd Tip-in moved the game back to a double-digit lead. With three seconds remaining, Bracero hit another jumper sending the Mocs to the halftime break down by single digits once again, 37-28.
In the third quarter, Eckerd went on an 11-5 run once again getting out to a 15-point lead.
Bre'Asia Washington sank her free throws after a foul to try to start a comeback as FSC continued to close the gap on the Triton's lead. As time dwindled down in the quarter, back-to-back layups from Washington and Gomes gave FSC the closest lead of the game as the Mocs cut the lead to eight points to head into the final quarter 51-43.
Randgaard opened up the fourth quarter sinking both free throws and
Sarah Lange hit a layup in the paint to get within four points with still 8:45 left. At 7:07 Gomes sank a 3-pointer coming with one with a Randgaard fast break layup giving Florida Southern the first lead of the game, 52-51 just before the six-minute mark. The Mocs and Tritons continued to battle it out, having six lead changes in the final three minutes of action until a free throw tied the game at 58-all with 2:28 remaining.
After the tie, Eckerd went on a 5-0 run continuing to put the game out of reach for FSC as the clock hit under a minute. The Mocs started to foul sending the Tritons to the line hoping to come back but Ieva Korzane finished going 8-8 from the line in the final to give Eckerd the first conference win with a 72-65 final.
Florida Southern returns to action on Tuesday, Nov.19 as they host Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in a non-conference matchup. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
