MELBOURNE, Fla. - Florida Tech women's basketball (4-8, 0-4 SSC) put together a strong showing against No. 17 Florida Southern (11-1, 4-0 SSC). But in the end, the upset bid fell a little short as the team lost, 62-67.

Leading the Panthers was Gracie Doane who's 14 points and six rebounds were tied for team highs with Tereza Sedlakova and Gudluag Juliusdottir respectively. Cheyenne Scott was the main distributor of the rock with four.

The first quarter saw the Panthers come out flat as they struggled to keep pace with the Mocs. This caused a nine-point deficit that the team never really recovered from despite multiple close calls later in the contest.

The second quarter though was all Florida Tech as they dictated the pace of play and forced FSC to try to beat them at their own game. Going into halftime, Tech trailed the Mocs, 31-36.

The entire second half was a hard fought battle as neither team could keep the momentum on its side for long. The third quarter was a one-point advantage for the Mocs due to a last-second layup from Anja Fuchs-Robetin.

Heading into the final 10 minutes of play the score was 54-48. Florida Tech was determined though and it showed on defense as the women did not allow a Moccasins'  field goal over the final eight minutes of play. Combined with some timely shot-making had the game within one with only 33 seconds to go. But, clutch free throws by FSC put the final tally at 67-62.

The Panthers will now turn their sights to Saturday's contest when they invite Nova Southeastern to the Clemente Center for a Sunshine State Conference showdown that is scheduled to start 2 p.m. ET.

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