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O.Stephens
60
Florida Tech FT 3-7,0-2 Sunshine State
64
Winner Saint Leo SLU 5-2,2-1 Sunshine State
Florida Tech FT
3-7,0-2 Sunshine State
60
Final
64
Saint Leo SLU
5-2,2-1 Sunshine State
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Florida Tech FT 12 12 14 22 60
Saint Leo SLU 16 17 13 18 64

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Jerry Durney

Panthers’ Late Rally At Saint Leo Comes Up Just Short

SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Florida Tech women's basketball team were on the road in Sunshine State Conference play for the first time this season on Saturday afternoon as they took on Saint Leo. Despite a furious 13-4 rally over the game's final 2:46, the deficit the Panthers faced for most of the afternoon ultimately proved too much and the Lions emerged victorious, 64-60.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Florida Tech 60, Saint Leo 64
Records: Florida Tech (3-8, 0-2 SSC), Saint Leo (5-2, 2-1 SSC)
Location:  Marion Bowman Activities Center| Saint Leo, Fla.
 
FIRST QUARTER:
  • The Lions opened the scoring 48 seconds in when Jumoke Adaramoye split a pair of free throws.
  • Kyandra Poitier put Florida Tech on the board at the 7:41 mark by sinking both of her free throws.  
  • Saint Leo responded with a quick 5-0 run thanks to an Adaramoye spinning layup, a stop and a three from Olivia Agunzo.
  • Agunzo knocked down another triple, this time in transition from a Panther miss, that brought the Lion lead to 9-2 and forced Tech to call a timeout at the 5:31 mark.  
  • Agunzo capped the Lions' 10-0 run on their first possession with a pull-up jumper.
  • Sarah Liberatore ended the Panthers' scoring drought by knocking down the second of her two free throws with 3:56 to go in the quarter.
  • Following a Lions turnover, Olivia Stephens knocked down the Crimson and Gray's first field goal of the game with a jumper to bring Florida Tech within six.
  • Lauren McCrea and Emily Acampora traded threes to bring the score to 14-8 in favor of Saint Leo.
  • Poitier knocked down one of two at the line to close the gap to five.
  • A minute later, Andjela Pavicevic would put back a McCrea missed three to push the Saint Leo advantage, which Remingtyn Smith matched on the next possession with a three with just under a minute remaining to bring Tech within four.
 
SECOND QUARTER:
  • Smith hit the first of two free throws on the Panthers' opening possession of the quarter to bring the Panthers to within 16-13.
  • Off of a miss on the second, Saint Leo found Ana Astapenka beyond the arc and she promptly doubled their lead.
  • The Lions added to the margin when Chynna Mattair hit the second of her two free throws to extend the lead to 20-13 with 8:47 to go.
  • Following a Lions' turnover, Stephens made sure it counter by cashing in a driving layup.
  • Nearly a minute later, Liberatore hit both of her free throws to bring Florida Tech within three.
  • Saint Leo responded on their next possession with Mattair hitting one of two at the line.
  • A little over a minute later, Agunzo's pullup jumper pushed the Lion lead back out to six. 
  • The Crimson and Gray immediately countered with a Jessica Lange layup.  
  • The Lions would get a Adaramoye layup to move their advantage back to 25-19 heading into the second media timeout.
  • On Saint Leo's first possession out of the timeout, Lauren McCrea's three late in the shot clock gave them a nine-point cushion.  
  • The teams traded baskets around the three-minute market through layups from Stephens and Kamaria Sheriff.
  • The free throw game became prominent towards the end of the half with Lina Stranger-Johannessen hitting one of two, Pavicevic hitting both of hers and Astapenka connecting with the first of her two.Tai Roberts concluded the scoring for the half with a driving layup with seven seconds left and the shot clock about to expire to bring Florida Tech within 33-24 at the break. 
 
THIRD QUARTER:
  • Saint Leo began the second half with an Agunzo hook shot to bring their lead back to double digits.  
  • Florida Tech were able to match on their first possession with Stephens sinking two free throws. 
  • Dalma Ehmann's first points of the day would come on a jumper in the paint at the 8:40 mark.    
  • The teams traded baskets two minutes later with an Adaramoye putback layup and an Ehmann layup.
  • Following the media timeout, a Mattair layup and Jenni Whitlow jumper pushed the Lion advantage back to 11.
  • The Crimson and Gray would roll off six straight points thanks to layups from Ehmann and Poitier as well as two Smith free throws.
  • A Sheriff jumper stemmed the tide and moved Saint Leo's lead back to seven.
  • Saint Leo would get further cushion thanks to a McCrea three to stretch the margin to ten.
  • Sarah Liberatore's layup with four seconds remaining brought Florida Tech to within 46-38 at quarter's end.
 
FOURTH QUARTER:
  • After tallying an offensive rebound, Liberatore's layup would open the scoring for the final frame just over 90 seconds in.
  • Saint Leo immediately responded with a Pavicevic layup.
  • Stranger-Johannessen's crucial three-point play, which was started by an offensive rebound, brought the Panthers within five with 7:36 to go.
  • Whitlow and Stranger-Johannessen traded layups either side of the six minute mark to bring the score to 50-45.
  • An Agunzo corner three with five and a half minutes was just what her team needed as it gave the Lions a 53-45 lead.
  • Taydra Simpson's first five points of the day proved vital as on consecutive possessions, she had a putback layup and a three-point play resulting from a turnover to push the lead out to 13 and put the game on ice with 3:26 to go.
  • The teams traded baskets through a Stephens layup and then Agunzo doing the same with 2:47 to play.
  • The Panthers would get a lifeline thanks to an Acampora three-pointer with just over two and a half minutes to play.
  • Things would become even more interesting when Stranger-Johannessen got a steal and then promptly drove to the basket to make it an eight-point game.
  • Nearly a minute later, two Roberts free throws shrunk the lead to six.
  • The Lions would turn it over on consecutive possessions, each leading to baskets for Stephens that brought the Panthers to within two with just under 30 seconds remaining.  
  • In order to extend the game, the Crimson and Gray would need to begin fouling and would do so, with McCrea hitting both of her attempts.
  • Roberts hit a jumper in the paint that halved the deficit with 16 seconds to go.
  • Following a timeout, Tech fouled McCrea, who would again go two for two at the line and when Poitier's three-point attempt in the dying seconds was off, their comeback attempt simply ran out of time.
 
NOTABLE PANTHERS:  
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:
  • Florida Tech leads the all-time series 53-24.
  • The Lions have won 11 consecutive games dating back to February 3, 2018.
  • The Panthers are now 24-13 all-time at Saint Leo.
  • Tech finished the game shooting 31.8% (21-66) from the field, 17.6% (3-17) from beyond the arc, and 78.9% (15-19) on free throws.
  • Saint Leo shot 47.9% (23-48) in the contest, 41.2% (7-17) from the three-point range, and 73.3% (11-15) at the line.
  • The Panthers held the advantage in points in the paint (34-26), points off turnovers (23-7), second-chance points (9-6) and offensive rebounds (17-11).
  • The Lions were tops in rebounds (40-32), fast break points (15-14) and bench points (31-21).
 
UP NEXT:
The Panthers hit the road for Sunshine State Conference play once again on Friday when they travel to Daytona Beach to face Embry-Riddle. Tip-off is set for 5:00 P.M.
 
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.
 
 
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