WINTER PARK, Fla. (December 6, 2008) - Freshman guard Kourtnie
Berry scored five of her seven points in the waning seconds of
overtime to put the Tars back in the lead and give the Rollins
women's basketball team their seventh straight victory as they
defeated Sunshine State Conference rival Florida Southern in a
91-87 overtime battle Saturday afternoon. With the victory the
Tars stay perfect on the season and open up conference play on a
high note, advancing to 7-0, 1-0 in SSC action, while the Mocs
accept their first loss of the season and drop to 6-1, 0-1 in SSC
play.
Four Tars scored in double-digits with sophomore fireball Jessica
Pressley leading the team as she tallied 17 points on the
afternoon, shooting 44 percent (4-9) from long range and 5-7 from
the charity stripe (71 percent), as well as grabbing three steals
in her time on the court. Freshman guard Paris
Moore walked away with 16 points and led the game in assists
with eight, as forward duo Ines
Teuma and Brittainy
Daiger recorded 15 points apiece to help the Tars to their
first conference victory early in the season.
Florida Southern saw plenty of offensive action as Michaela
Hawley tallied a big 24 points on the day with teammates Chelsea
Johnson totaling 19 points and Nicolle DiRaimo grabbing a 17 point
10 rebound double-double.
Rollins came out firing in the first 30 seconds with a jumper
from Daiger to open up first half action, but with a lay-up from
DiRaimo just seconds later the score would be tied at two. The
back and forth score continued throughout the whole contest as the
score would change hands 16 times and tie-up 18 more.
The Tars would jump out to their largest lead of the game early
in the first half, holding the Mocs to a deficit of seven points
with 15 minutes remaining in first period play, but with five
unanswered points from Johnson in a row, followed by a jumper from
Megan Dzikas, the Mocs would tie up the game for the third time
with 11 minutes to go in first half action.
The score would continue to teeter in both directions for the
rest of the first period, and with 51 seconds left the scoreboard
registered a 39-39 draw. A Rollins foul would allow Kristin
McIntyre to sink two from the charity stripe, and Florida Southern
entered into the half with a two point lead and a score of
41-39.
Rollins exploded into the second half to open up to a five point
lead four minutes into play and again a minute later, but the Mocs
were not about to back down as they opened up to their largest lead
of six with 1:48 remaining in regulation. A foul from Alli Fogle
set up Teuma at the line for two points to cut the lead down to
four with a score of 77-81. And with another foul by DiRaimo at
the 1:10 mark, Pressley stepped up to the charity stripe to sink
two and cut the score to 79-81.
A missed 3-pointer and Florida Southern turnover with 40 seconds
remaining placed the ball in the Tars' hands, giving Moore the
chance to sink a jumper with 30 seconds left to tie up the game for
the 17 time. With the ball in Johnson's hands, and just nine
seconds remaining, Daiger made good on a block to keep the Mocs
from taking the final lead, throwing the game into overtime with a
score of 81-81.
Two missed opportunities by Rollins at the start of the overtime
period allowed Florida Southern to take the lead, opening up to a
six point advantage with 2:30 left in third period action. But a
long-range sinker from Berry brought the Tars to within three, and
four straight free-throws from the freshman put Rollins ahead by
one with just 30 seconds left in overtime. Florida Southern would
foul twice to put Moore at the line, and with three good shots from
the charity stripe, the Tars would defeat the Mocs in down to the
wire action.
Rollins will be back in action on Monday, December 15, when they
take on the Saints of Flager College in their seventh home game of
the season. Tipoff is set for 5:30 in Warden Arena at the Alfond
Sports Center. Fans can catch all the action live on the Citizens
Bank of Florida Tars Sports Network at www.RollinsSports.com as well
as 91.5 WPRK.
