BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Southern College women's basketball team dropped a tough road loss to Lynn University on Saturday afternoon with a 56-54 final at the de Hoernle Sports and Cultural Center in Boca Raton.
The Moccasins (13-11, 6-11 SSC) had three finish in double-figure points as
Amari Jackson led the way with 15 points followed by
Domenica Zamora with 11 points, and from the bench
Sydney Gomes with 10 points.
Arielle Dabu led the way defensively just shy of double-digit boards with nine defensive rebounds.
The Fighting Knights (13-11, 8-8 SSC) also had three scorers in double-digits with Ella Fiore leading the way with 13 points. Makayla Hemingway also scored double-figures with 12 points followed by Marianna Klavina with 11 points.
Florida Southern came out on fire to start the first quarter, getting out to a 6-0 lead before Lynn could retaliate. Zamora and Jackson opened up the scoring with made free throws from the point guard and consecutive layups from the forward.
Jackson and
Marissa Jenike gave FSC a 10-point advantage with three minutes remaining in the quarter the largest lead of the period. Lynn was able to fight back sinking 3-pointers to come within one before Zamora and Gomes ended the quarter with a layup and Gomes' 2-for-2 from the charity stripe to end the second with a 16-10 advantage.
Gomes drained a shot beyond the arc to open up the scoring in the second quarter to push the lead to nine. With the momentum in the Mocs' favor, they went on a 16-11 run that concluded the second quarter with a 14-point advantage heading into the halftime break.
Lynn came out of halftime and slowly started to make a comeback after back-to-back shots from Fiore and Dabu to make it 37-23 with a 14-point lead for FSC. The Fighting Knights won the third quarter not allowing the Mocs to score until just about the one-minute mark, as they were about to come within five points before hitting a last 3-pointer to make it a 4-point game with just the fourth quarter remaining.
Back-to-back 3-pointers gave Lynn the lead 43-41, their first of the game. Jenike tied the game once again sinking both free throws for a short while until Lynn got the lead back again. Jenike hit her first three of the game to give FSC back the lead at about five minutes remaining. The lead continued to switch between both teams until Gomes tied the game 50-all on a free throw shot. Lynn retook a four-point lead, 55-51, and with twelve seconds remaining Gomes closed it to a one-point game with a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left. The Fighting Knights made their free throw giving the Mocs the ball one last time. As time dwindled FSC went for the win but just missed, falling to Lynn 56-54 on the road.
Florida Southern returns to Jenkins Field House on Wednesday, Feb. 21 to face Florida Tech in another SSC battle. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
