Women's Basketball Travels to #11 Nova Southeastern for the SSC Quarterfinals

LAKELAND, Fla.- The Florida Southern women's basketball team will make the trip to Fort Lauderdale to play top-seed #11 Nova Southeastern University for the Sunshine State Conference Quarterfinals at 5:30 p.m. at the Rick Case Arena.
 
The Mocs have earned the eighth seed in the conference bracket, finishing the regular season with a league record of 8-12 and 15-12 overall.
 
Florida Southern started off the season 5-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 season, where they picked up wins against regional opponents in then #21/#22 Lee University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The Mocs stayed hot in their home opener, defeating Puerto Rico- Rio Piedras, and then picked up two comeback wins in the Rollins Classic against Winston-Salem State and Belmont Abbey. Florida Southern would finish the month of November with a 5-1 record. 
 
To start conference play, the Moccasins struggled early but gained their first conference win against Florida Tech in an overtime thriller (59-54). Florida Southern would go 8-7 in their last 15 contests, allowing them to secure the eighth seed with some big wins.
 
2024 SSC TOURNAMENT
#2 Tampa, #3 Embry Riddle, and #4 Eckerd will also host quarterfinal contests this Tuesday. Game sites will be determined by the team with the higher seed for each contest. The semi-finals will take place on March 7th after the elimination of four teams. The final round will commence on March 10th, determining the SSC Champions for the 2024 season, as well as granting an automatic qualifier to the 2024 NCAA DII Championship.
 
Florida Southern last won the SSC Championship in 2019, defeating Eckerd by one (61-60), and made it all the way to the NCAA South Regional Championship where the Mocs fell to Nova Southeastern. Last year, the Mocs season ended in the semi-finals against the University of Tampa after defeating Nova Southeastern in the first-round upset. 
 
2024 SSC CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
#4 Eckerd will host #5 Rollins at 7 p.m., and the winner will face the winner of the FSC-Nova Southeastern matchup to be held at 5:30 p.m. On the other side of the bracket, #2 Tampa will match up against #7 Palm Beach Atlantic at 7 p.m., and #3 Embry Riddle will face #6 Lynn at 5:30 p.m. 
 
FSC & Nova Southeastern
 
Dating back to 1999, Florida Southern is 28-23 against Nova Southeastern. The Mocs will face the Sharks in the SSC quarterfinals for the second year in a row and for the third time this season. Earlier this season, FSC fell to the Sharks at home on Jan.3, by a final score of 64-53. They then fell on the road on Feb. 24, this time 57-42. The two teams will face off in the most important matchup of the season this Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the semifinals of the conference tournament. 
 
In the first loss, Domenica Zamora recorded a team-high 15 points and three assists. Sarah Lange added nine points and five rebounds. 
 
In the second matchup, Lange led with a team-high 11 points, Zamora added seven points, and Sydney Gomes pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Florida Southern This Season - 15-12, 8-12 SSC
The Mocs have had several players contribute and step up in big moments throughout the course of the year. With no players averaging double figures, scoring is distributed fairly evenly, leaving any night up to anyone. 
 
Starting in 25 of 26 of her games played this season, Marissa Jenike leads Florida Southern in scoring with 9.3 points per game. Jenike has proved herself to be one of the best shooters in the conference, shooting 39.5% from behind the arc, the second-best percentage in all of the SSC. 
 
Arielle Dabu comes in right behind Jenike, averaging 8.3 points per game along with 4.4 rebounds per game. Dabu has made starts in all but one of her games played this season, averaging 28.1 minutes per game, and has recorded two double-doubles against big conference opponents in Saint Leo and Rollins. 
 
Graduate student Domenica Zamora has been active all season for the Moccasins as well. Zamora finished the regular season averaging 8.2 points per game and 4.1 rebounds for the game in 28.2 minutes per game. The point guard also has 85 assists on the year, putting her in the top ten for most assists in the conference.
 
Sophomore Amari Jackson was a great presence in the post for FSC this season. Jackson shot 47% from the floor during the regular season, converting on 95 of 202 attempts. Jackson recorded her career-best with 24 points against Saint Leo and had her first collegiate double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds against Florida Tech. 
 
Sarah Lange, Sydney Gomes, Anna Denes, and Arriyana Bracero have closed out most of the scoring for Florida Southern throughout the year. Lange finished the year shooting a team-high 48.6%, averaging seven points per game and 3.8 rebounds per game. In 21.5 minutes per game, Gomes averaged 6.8 points per game, four rebounds per game, and 2.2 assists per game. Denes was a big force on the glass all season long, pulling down 5.5 rebounds per game to go along with 6.1 points per game. In 26 games played, Bracero averaged 5.5 points per game and 35 assists on the year. 
 
Florida Southern averages 62.7 points per game and 37.3 rebounds per game this year. The Mocs ended the regular season shooting 39.3% from the field and 31.5% from behind the arc. 
 
Nova Southeastern This Season - 23-4, 18-2 SSC
The Sharks started off slow in the month of November, going 2-3 in their first five games. NSU never looked back, as they finished the year 21-1. 
 
Nova Southeastern finished the regular season 18-2 in the SSC and 23-4 overall. Their only conference losses came from Lynn University earlier in the season, and the University of Tampa later on in an overtime contest. Prior to their loss against Tampa, the Sharks were on a program-record 20-game win streak. With a 91-52 win this past Saturday against Saint Leo, the Sharks were able to secure their first Sunshine State Conference regular season title since 2015-16.
 
NSU is led by three players averaging double figures, including Morgan Kane with 15.7 points per game, Nicole Scales with 13.7 points per game, and Aubrey Stupp with 10.8 points per game. 
 
The Sharks lead the conference in offense, averaging 71.6 points per game, and only give up 59.3 points per game, for the greatest point margin in the Sunshine State Conference (12.3).