LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Tech (1-1) was unable to keep up with the Florida Southern (1-1) offense in the teams' second meeting in three days and the Panthers were ousted 74-43 Sunday afternoon on the road at George Jenkins Field House.
Fanny Paulin led Tech with 15 points on 6-12 shooting, including three makes from downtown, five rebounds and two steals.
Zoe Murphy tallied seven points and four rebounds while
Irene Vicente added six points, four rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists.
Lina Stranger-Johannessen scored five points and
Aiste Vaitekunaite contributed four points and three rebounds.
Mackenzie Steele went 7-8 from beyond the arc for Florida Southern and paced all players in the game with 27 points and five rebounds. Sanya Ratnikava added 13 points, four steals and three assists while Marta Aranda had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Tech shot 29.3% from the field while going 5-27 from deep and 4-7 from the line. FSC hit 47.4% of its shot attempts while making an impressive 12-23 beyond the arc and 8-10 at the charity stripe. The Mocs had a 40-33 rebounding advantage and outscored Tech 19-8 in fast breaks points.
Both teams struggled at times to control possession with the Panthers turning the ball over 28 times compared to 24 for FSC. The Mocs made better work of the extra possessions though, outscoring Tech 27-8 in points off turnovers. Florida Southern held a lead for 39:08 of the 40-minute contest.
The Mocs grabbed an early 7-2 lead just 1:29 into the game. A layup by Murphy and a pair of free throws by
Makyla Daniels made it a one-point game with just over seven minutes left in the first quarter. Vicente then gave the Panthers their first lead after Hakanson found her open in the lane for the layup to make the score 8-7 with 4:09 left.
FSC answered with an 11-2 run and jumped ahead 18-10 with 54 seconds to go in the first quarter. Murphy drained a three-ball off an assist from
Cheyenne Scott to trim the Panthers' deficit to 18-13 heading into the second.
The Mocs started the second quarter on a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 27-13 with 6:56 to go in the first half. Paulin scored seven straight points for the Panthers, accounting for all of Tech's scoring in the second quarter, to cut the margin to 27-20. Steele made a three on the ensuing possession for the Mocs and they took a 30-20 advantage into the break.
FSC opened the third quarter on a 14-6 run to build its lead to 18 with 2:44 to go in the frame. Their lead eventually hit 21 following a three by Ratnikava that made the score 50-29 with 1:43 left in the third. Paulin answered with her own three but the Mocs drained another trey in the waning seconds of the quarter to make the margin 53-32.
FSC continued their strong play in the fourth quarter, kicking off the frame on a 19-6 run to build the margin to 34 points, 72-38. A fast break jumper by
Jaida Hall and a three by
Lina Stranger-Johannessen at the buzzer completed the scoring for the Panthers as they were dealt their first loss of the season.
The Panthers and Mocs have one more scheduled game this spring with the rubber match taking place on Feb. 17 in Lakeland. However, before that contest Florida Tech has consecutive matchups with Barry next week. The Panthers travel to Miami Shores on Wednesday, Feb. 10 before hosting Barry on Saturday, Feb. 13 at the Clemente Center.
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