MELBOURNE, Fla. (November 12, 2010) - Amber
Heistan led three Tars in double-figures and Kristina
Mingos posted a double-double as the Rollins women's basketball
team opened up the season with a 67-56 upset over 20th-ranked Fort
Valley State.
The Tars (1-0) shot just 33 percent (21-63) and held the Lady
Wildcats (0-1) to 38 percent (19-50), but dominated the boards,
outrebounding FVSU 49-32, including 22-9 on the offensive
glass.
Heistan went 6-of-14 from the field and hit two from long range
to post a game-high 14 points. Mingos scored 11 points, all in the
first half, and corralled 11 rebounds, six on the offensive end, en
route her first career double-double. Tera
McDaniel added 10 points while freshman Sarah Blackburn netted
eight off the bench.
Kendra Evans paced the Lady Wildcats with 11 points and Brandi
Haynes added nine.
Mingos hit her second triple of the game four minutes in and
gave the Tars an early 9-6 lead. That was followed by more than two
minutes of scoreless play and then Brooke
Burgess hit a jumper and pushed the advantage to five, 11-6.
The Tars held a 13-10 edge midway through the first period, but
back-to-back jumpers by Keyerra Rozier and Jones gave FVSU its
first lead of the game 14-13.
Heistan answered with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and
the two teams traded baskets for the next five minutes. Cheree
Taylor connected on a pair from the line with three minutes to play
in the half, tying the score at 26. Rollins then ran off a 7-0 run
and took a 33-26 lead with less than a minute until the half. The
gap was the same in the final seconds until Tiffany Platt hit a
running 3-pointer in the final seconds to make the score 35-31,
Rollins at intermission.
Rollins was hot coming out of the locker room and quickly ran
its lead to 42-31 with 17:16 to play. The Tars offense sputtered
over the next four minutes and allowed Fort Valley fire off an 11-0
run and tie the score at 42-42. Blackburn then took over and
scored the Tars next six points to snuff out the Wildcats hot
streak. The newcomer capped off the burst with an offensive rebound
and stick back that put the Tars back on top. FVSU later held a
49-48 advantage with nine minutes to play, but Rollins caught fire
and rattled off a 13-1 run over the next six minutes to take a
commanding 62-50 lead in the final three minutes.
The Tars lead would balloon to as much as 16, 67-51 down the
stretch before five straight buckets in the waning seconds made the
final gap 11.
Rollins will kick-off day two of the Florida Tech Tip-off
Challenge on Saturday, Nov. 13 against Albany State. Game time is
slated for noon from the Clemente Center in Melbourne. Fans can
catch all the action live on the Tars Sports Network at
RollinsSports.com.
