WINTER PARK, Fla. (February 21, 2007) - In its
last home regular season contest at Warden Arena on Wednesday
night, the Rollins women's basketball team defeated #17 Florida
Tech 74-68 in overtime.' The Tars improved to 21-5 overall and 12-3
in Sunshine State Conference play, and the first place Panthers
dropped to 21-5 overall and 13-3 in the SSC in their final
conference game.' With a win in their final game in the conference
season on Saturday at Barry, the Tars can earn a share of the
regular season SSC title.
Senior forward Larissa McDonough led Rollins with 17 points,
including six of six from the free throw line.' Junior point guard
Jennifer Musgrove also scored in double digits, as she poured in 10
as well as grabbing seven rebounds.' Guards Jessica Barker,
Jennifer Dyer, and Jessica Pressley all scored nine points, and
sophomore forward Ines Teuma led all players with nine rebounds.'
Barker and Dyer played outstanding defense, notching three and four
steals respectively.
Guards Kristi Harrell and Jennifer Tamilio led FIT on offense,
scoring 14 and 13 points respectively.' Sabrina Jones led the
Panthers with seven rebounds, and McKena Richardson picked up two
steals.
The nationally-ranked Panthers fought their way to a 35-27 lead
going into halftime, thanks in large part to a 19-4 run lasting
nine minutes through the heart of the half.' FIT led by as many as
15 points in the opening stanza when Harrell hit a trey with 5:34
left in the half.' The Tars fought back to narrow the lead to eight
when Barker hit a three-pointer in the waning seconds of the first
half.
Starting with a jumper by Barker with 18:07 left in the second
half, the Tars went on a 16-5 run to take a six-point lead.' A free
throw by Harrell with 0:54 left in regulation tied the game at 63,
and the score would remain tied going into overtime.' Tamilio had a
chance to win the game for the Panthers with a potential
buzzer-beater, but the shot bounced off the rim, pushing the game
into overtime.
Rollins scored eight unanswered points to open overtime, and the
Tars would not look back.' FIT managed a trey by Kristin Heminger
with 0:29 left and a jumper by Harrell with 0:13 left, but other
than that the Panthers went cold in overtime, shooting just 25
percent.
The Tars held the shooting advantage, shooting 40.3 percent
compared to 34.8 percent for FIT.' The teams were evenly matched on
the boards, with the Panthers grabbing 46 rebounds to the Tars'
44.' Rollins took advantage of its opponent's mistakes, scoring 24
point off turnovers compared to 14 for FIT.
McDonough and forward Jennifer Catti were honored before the
game for Senior Night.' The game was the final home regular season
contest for both players.
Rollins will travel south for its final regular season game of
the year at Barry University on Saturday, February 24.' Tip-off is
scheduled for 4:00 p.m., and fans can listen live on the Tars
Sports Network at www.RollinsSports.com.
