FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Florida Southern College women's basketball made history Tuesday night defeating No. 14 Nova Southeastern in the quarterfinals of the Sunshine State Conference tournament. The Moccasins upset the ranked Sharks being the first eighth seed in Sunshine State Conference Championship history, men's or women's, to defeat a first seed with a 55-45 victory inside Rick Case Arena in Fort Lauderdale.
FSC (16-12, 8-12 SSC) had two finish in double-digits as juniors
Marissa Jenike and
Arielle Dabu posted 12 and 11 points, respectively. Graduate student
Domenica Zamora led the defensive end pulling down eight boards.
Nova Southeastern got a quick 9-0 lead to open the first quarter, as the buckets struggled to fall for FSC until
Anna Denes scored on a fastbreak layup with 2:35 remaining in the first quarter.
Sydney Gomes turned the ball around coming down with a defensive rebound and scoring a 3-pointer on the offensive end for the Mocs to make it 9-5. The Sharks answered with a layup, but
Sarah Lange went on an individual 4-0 run for FSC scoring on back-to-back layups to head into the second quarter down by just two points, 11-9.
Gomes tied the game to open the second quarter, while Jenike gave the Mocs the first lead of the game scoring on an offensive rebound. With the momentum in Florida Southern's favor, the Mocs continued to add to their lead, making it a seven-point advantage with a layup from Lange while Dabu sank a three to make it 18-11. NSU went on a six-point run sinking two consecutive shots from beyond the arc to come within one point of FSC's lead.
Amari Jackson and Jenike both battled in the paint hitting two layups, before Nova hit a pair of free throws to end the quarter with the Mocs heading into the halftime break with a 22-19 advantage.
The Sharks outscored the Mocs in the third 16-7 to take a six-point lead into the final quarter.
In the fourth, Dabu opened the quarter by sinking a 3-pointer to make it 35-32 and start the rally with everything on the line for FSC. NSU scored on a layup and hit both free throws to get back a seven-point lead. The Mocs then started to cut into the Sharks advantage and took the lead back as Jenike sank a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game, 41-39. Dabu and Gomes put the game out of reach with back-to-back shots from beyond the arc, as FSC led 47-41 with just over a minute remaining.
Arriyana Bracero cushioned the Mocs lead sinking both free throws, to make it 49-41.
Florida Southern was able to get out to a 12-point advantage with shots from the line that would advance the Moccasins to the semifinals of the SSC tournament defeating the ranked Sharks 55-44 and making history as the first team in the conference on both the men's and women's side to be the 8th-seed and defeat the 1st-seed.
With the win, FSC advances to take on 4th-seed Eckerd College on Thursday, March 7th in the semifinals. The game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the McAruther Center in St. Petersburg.
