SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Florida Tech women's basketball team were on the court for the second time in less than 24 hours on Saturday afternoon at the SSC/SIAC Challenge against Central State. The Panthers turned in their most dominant performance of the season, never trailing at any point to earn their first victory of the campaign, 78-57.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Florida Tech 78, Central State 57
Records: Florida Tech (1-4, 0-0 SSC), Central State (0-2, 0-0 SIAC)
Location:  Marion Bowman Activities Center| Saint Leo, Fla.
 
FIRST QUARTER:
•  Tech could not have had a better start to the game, opening with a 10-0 run over the game's first 6:37.  
•  Dalma Ehmann and Kyandra Poitier combined to provide the Panthers' first 10 points.
•  Another two buckets from Ehmann would stretch the Florida Tech lead to 14-1.
•  The Lady Marauders would find their first field goals of the game through a Nadya McCown three just after the two-minute mark and a Baijing Zinnerman breakaway layup inside the final 10 seconds to cut the Panther lead to 20-6 after 1.
 
SECOND QUARTER:
•  The Crimson and Gray continued to extend their lead early in the second quarter through Ehmann, Breazia Robinson and an Emily Acampora three.
•  Back-to-back jumpers from Farah Shaaban and Divine Guthrie would bring the FT lead out to 31-12 at the 5:50 mark.
•  The 10-0 run continued with a pair of Guthrie free throws, an Acampora triple and a Poitier putback.
•  Central State were able to halt the momentum temporarily with a Naomi Shorts jumper, their first basket in 2:40.
•  Florida Tech would bump the lead back up to 25 thanks to Poitier before the Lady Marauders reeled off a 11-0 run of their own.
•  That 3:10 stretch was powered by free throws from Jacquel Bronaugh, Dashanti Miller, Samara Savory and Shorts, as well as an Abbigail Peterson three-pointer.
•  A Remingtyn Smith jumper from an offensive rebound would stem the tide briefly before a three from Peterson would cut the margin to 41-28 going into the locker room.
 
THIRD QUARTER:
•  Florida Tech would get on the board first once again, this time through a Lina Stranger-Johannessen jumper 90 seconds in.
•  The Panthers would continue to re-establish through cushion through Smith (four points), Poitier (two points) and Tai Roberts (four points) during a stretch that saw the lead stretch back to 21 points at 53-32.
•  Three-pointers from Peterson just about a minute and a half apart would cut the margin back to 15.
•  Tech responded with 11 points over the final 3:45 quarter thanks to four points each from Ehmann and Olivia Stephens in addition to an Acampora three, giving the Panthers a 64-43 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
 
FOURTH QUARTER:
•  After Katarina Maros got the Lady Marauders on the board first just over a minute into the quarter, Acampora responded with her fourth three of the game.
•  The Lady Marauders would not get closer than 20 during the final frame, and Tech would bring their lead to a game-high 27 with just under three minutes to go.
 
 
NOTABLE PANTHERS:
•  Dalma Ehmann led Florida Tech in scoring with a career-high 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
•   Emily Acampora hit double figures for the third time in five games by contributing 14 points.  She also added six rebounds and two steals.
 •   Kyandra Poitier posted a season-high 10 points, along with four rebounds and two blocks.  
 •   Lina Stranger-Johannessen had seven of the Panthers' 23 assists and five of their 13 steals.
 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:
 
•   This was the first-ever meeting between the schools. 
•   Tech finished the game shooting 52.3% (34-65) from the field, 22% (4-18) from beyond the arc, and 60% (6-10) on free throws.
•   Central State shot 23.4% (18-77) in the contest, 23.5% (8-34) from the three-point range, and 56.5% (13-23) at the line.
•   Florida Tech held the advantage in rebounds (49-47), points in the paint (24-4), fast break points (13-10) and second-chance points (12-8)
•   The Lady Marauders were tops in bench points (50-35).
 
 
UP NEXT: Florida Tech returns to action on Monday morning at the Clemente Center with an exhibition against Johnson. Tip-off is set for 10:30 A.M.
 
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