MELBOURNE – Florida Tech women's basketball were back in action Thursday, March 11, as they welcomed the Mocs of Florida Southern to the Clemente Center for a midweek battle. Despite a second-half charge, it was not enough as the Panthers fell 73-61.

Three Panthers finished the contest with double-digit points as Aiste Vaitekunaite led the pack with 13 and a team-high in rebounds with six. Meanwhile, Fanny Paulin and Zoe Murphy were the other two double-digit scorers as they had 12 and 11, respectively.
 
The game started with each team feeling each other out and trading the lead back and forth. However, the Panthers captured the momentum about midway through the quarter and over the next five minutes went on a 15-4 run that gave them their largest lead of the night at 19-10. However, they did cool off and the first ended 19-15 courtesy of a five-point Mocs run.
 
Florida Southern extended its runs to 10-0 at the start of the second and this gave them a 20-19 advantage. But a Lina Stranger-Johannessen three-ball put Tech back on top and this began another period where neither team maintained the momentum as the lead changed hands once and was tied four times. Unfortunately, for the Panthers, the Mocs finished the half on an 8-0 run and entered the locker room ahead 38-30.
 
Another strong start for the Mocs pushed their advantage to 18 as they went on a 12-2 run in the opening minutes of the second half. However, a timeout and line change for Florida Tech completely shifted the momentum as the women went on a 10-0 run and brought it to 50-42. The deficit later shrunk to five points later off of back-to-back Panther buckets. Sadly, this did not keep up as another slow end to the quarter saw the Mocs finished on a 6-0 run and make it a 58-47 game.
 
This late slip did light a fire in Florida Tech as they opened the final quarter on a 12-2 run and this made it a one-point contest with 5:56 left. However, the Panthers' offense struggled the rest of the way as they only managed two more points the rest of the contest. This allowed Florida Southern the chance to close out the contest as Tech fell 73-61.
 
The Crimson & Gray will be back on the hardwood Saturday, March 13, for their regular-season finale against Tampa. This game begins at 2 pm ET in the Bob Martinez Athletics Center.
 
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.