LAKELAND, Fla. – In its first game in 339 days, Florida Tech opened the season 1-0 with a 64-57 victory over Florida Southern Friday evening at George Jenkins Field House. 
 
Severine Uggen paced the Panthers with 15 points while shooting 6-13 in the game. Newcomer Aiste Vaitekunaite added 14 points and six rebounds and fellow newcomer Zoe Murphy provided 13 points on 4-9 from the field including three makes from downtown. Fanny Hakanson hauled in a team-high 12 rebounds to go along with her five assists and four points.
 
Makyla Daniels provided six points and two rebounds to Tech's stat line and Fanny Paulin drained all four of her free throws and grabbed five rebounds. Irene Vicente finished with five rebounds two points and two steals and Cheyenne Scott had four rebounds and three assists. 
 
As a team, FT shot 37.5% from the field while going 6-25 from deep and 16-20 from the line. FSC hit 33.8% of its shot attempts while making 6-22 beyond the arc and 7-13 at the charity stripe. The Panthers led in rebounding 43-40 and both teams had four total blocks. 
 
The Mocs were guided by Mackenzie Steele who produced a double-double on 18 points and 14 rebounds, both game-highs. Ashley Shell added 13 points and eight rebounds for FSC.
 
Bench scoring was a major differene in the game as Tech outscored the Mocs 33-11 in the category. Murphy and Vaitekunaite provided the majority of the points off the bench while Jamielyn Jarvis made all three of her shot attempts and finished with six points.
 
The Moccasins jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before Jarvis came in and scored Tech's first points, laying the ball in off an assist from Uggen with 6:16 left in the first quarter. FSC regained momentum and pushed its lead to 13-4. The Mocs led 16-9 with 1:12 to go but Daniels tallied six straight points for the Panthers to bring them to within one, 16-15, at the end of first.
 
An opening bucket by Vicente early into the second helped Tech take its first lead of the game, 16-17. FSC ensued on a 12-2 run to draw ahead 28-19 with 6:49 to go in the quarter. The Mocs eventually grabbed their largest lead of the game, 34-24, with just over two minutes remaining before halftime. The Panthers closed the half on a 10-3 run, thanks to four free throws by Paulin, and went into the break down 37-34. 
 
A back-and-forth third quarter resulted in the Moccasins holding a 51-47 lead heading into the final 10 minutes. The Panthers went on to outscore the home team 17-6 in the fourth quarter including a 10-0 run to start the frame, thanks to treys by Uggen and Murphy that gave Tech a 57-51 edge with 6:15 to go. 
 
FSC cut the margin to 57-54 with 2:34 remaining but the Panthers shut them down the rest of the rest of the way and were able to hold on for the seven-point road win.
  
Now that the first game is in the bag, head coach John Reynolds, who picked up his 581^st victory Friday evening, was pleased with his team's performance despite the obvious differences in the game environment this year as a result of the pandemic. 
 
"A win's a win," said Reynolds. "After not playing a game in 339 days, our team looked like you would expect. We played like a team that is still trying to figure itself out and adjusting to all the changes. Everyone was flat, but that's to be expected.
 
"One thing that was a bit weird is playing without fans. Without the fans, and without the buzz in the gym, it's so different. I don't know how the NBA did it in that bubble. It's eerie, very eerie. You can't build off the emotion. However, after we get a few games under our belt we'll be alright."
 
Reynolds also reflected on his appreciation for the preparedness of Florida Southern on Friday night as well as gratitude to finally be playing against another team. 
 
"Florida Southern really did a really good job in their prep tonight," Reynolds stated. "Everything was set up for us and ready to go. They always do an amazing job with their hospitality. 

"The two teams that played tonight had the support of their administrations for months and months. The players and coaches are grateful for that. It's exciting to be back to playing. Better than being home and watching someone else play."
 
The Panthers and Mocs will meet again for round two this Sunday at noon at Jenkins Field House. Fans can access links to live streaming and stats on the women's basketball team's schedule page at FloridaTechSports.com.
 
For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech women's basketball team, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.