WINTER PARK, Fla. (Women's Basketball) – Julie McCarthy recorded a double-double on 14 points and 10 rebounds and Florida Tech (2-0) earned a 66-59 victory over St. Michael's (0-2) on the second day of the Rollins Tip-Off Classic in Winter Park, Florida.
McCarthy finished 7-of-11 from the field and added three blocks in 28 minutes of action.
DeLise Williams tallied 12 points and fell one rebound shy of a double-double with nine.
Gracie Doane collected eight points and six boards, while
Shequana Harris notched eight points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists.
Tanease Richardson and
Tereza Sedlakova scored seven points apiece and combined for eight rebounds.
Michaela Gelbaugh posted five points on 5-of-6 from the line to go along with five boards.
Leah Spencer paced St. Michael's with 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting and six rebounds. Indira Evora ended with nine points and three boards and Cassandra Falone added eight points.
Florida Tech made 37.5 percent from the field in the win, while limiting the Purple Knights to just 30.6 percent shooting. The Panthers finished with a 53-36 edge on the glass.
Despite shooting 4-of-14, the Panthers led 16-14 after the first quarter thanks to an 8-of-8 effort at the line. FIT's advantage remained the same at halftime as both teams tallied 19 points in the second quarter.
After SMC tied the game early into the second half, the Panthers responded with a 9-0 run to go up 44-35 with 6:26 left in the third. The lead increased to 10 points on Richardson's layup with 25 seconds left in the period but two late free throws by the Purple Knights cut their deficit to 55-47 heading into the final quarter.
SMC would come no closer than five points the rest of the game as the Panthers were able hold on and pick up their second win of the opening weekend.
Next up for Florida Tech is a trip to St. Petersburg, Florida for its Sunshine State Conference opener against the Eckerd Tritons on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 5:30 p.m. ET. Fans can access live coverage of the action at FloridaTechSports.com.
