AT A GLANCE - Sunshine State Conference
Champions for a record 13th time, Rollins has now put
itself one win from a seventh SSC Tournament title, meeting rival
Florida Southern Sunday in Lakeland. The game will be the rubber
match between the 17th-ranked Tars and
19th-ranked Mocs with each team winning on its home
court.
Fans in Central Florida can watch the game live on
the Bright House Sports Network (ch. 47 or HD ch. 1147) and listen
live through the Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com and 91.5
FM, WPRK.
The second seed Tars beat six seed Florida Tech 72-68 in the
second semifinal on Saturday night. Tech had swept Rollins in the
regular season, but the Tars triumphed in the third match-up and
used a hot shooting second half to seal the win. SSC Newcomer of
the Year Ashley Jones led the Tars (23-5) with 14 points while
Jasmine Bradley added 13 off the bench. Sarah Blackburn chipped in
11 points and seven rebounds. Rollins dispatched seventh seed Lynn
on Wednesday in their quarterfinal game, 63-47. The Tars up just
two midway through the second half, but went on a 19-3 run late to
seal the win. Kourtnie Berry led the way with 12 points with Paris
Moore adding eight points, six rebounds and two steals.
Top seed Florida Southern (23-5), co-SSC regular season
champions with Rollins and Barry, beat Nova Southeastern 66-47 in
the first semifinal Saturday. Michaela Hawley, the SSC Player of
the Year, posted her eighth double-double of the season and 22nd of
her career with an 18-point, 15-rebound effort. Morgan Lamberg had
14 points and nine rebounds, while Megan Dzikas notched 13 points
and nine assists. The Mocs rolled past eighth seed Tampa 79-63 in
their semifinal game Wednesday.
Rollins and Florida Southern split in the regular season with
the Tars winning 74-59 in Winter Park and the Mocs returning the
favor in Lakeland, 59-56.
Rollins, ranked 17th in the latest USA TODAY/ESPN
Division II Coaches Poll, finished the regular season 21-5 overall
and 12-4 in the SSC. Head Coach Glenn Wilkes Jr. put together one
of the nation's toughest schedules that saw the Tars play six games
against opponents in the WBCA's final regular season national poll.
Rollins opened the season against defending national champion and
then top-ranked Clayton State, narrowly falling 54-51 in Tampa. The
Lakers are currently ranked No. 3 in the nation. The following day,
Rollins beat 16th-ranked Wisconsin-Parkside 66-58 as the
Rangers have since rattled off a 22-4 season and are ranked No. 15
at the conclusion of the regular season. Rollins split the season
series with No. 19 Florida Southern as each team defended home
court. The Tars beat two teams who received votes in the latest
national poll, Johnson C. Smith and Holy Family.
Rollins started the first two months of the season 14-1 and went
from unranked to No. 7 in the Division II poll. The win streak was
halted at Florida Tech, 64-62 on Jan. 21. The Tars bounced back
with a win over Nova Southeastern, but lost its next time out to
19th-ranked Florida Southern, 59-56. Five-straight wins
followed to get Rollins back into the national top-10 and open up a
two-game lead in the SSC standings. Another loss to Florida Tech,
followed by a setback at Barry and win at Nova Southeastern,
dropped the Tars into a three-way tie in the final conference
standings.
ROLLINS IN THE SSC TOURNAMENT - Rollins and
Florida Southern are the only conference schools to have
participated in all 31 SSC Tournaments. The Tars are 42-24 (.636
winning pct.) all-time in conference tournament play, having won
six titles and finishing runner-up 10-times. Only FSC has a better
winning percentage (.652) and more titles (10) than Rollins. In the
quarterfinals, Rollins is 19-2, including its win over Lynn
Wednesday. The Tars are 17-12 in semifinal games after Saturday and
6-10 in the SSC Tournament Championship. Rollins has enjoyed the
most success as the No. 1 seed, holding a record of 22-6. The Tars
are 9-5 all-time as the No. 2 seed. The last time in that slot was
2010 where Rollins defeated No. 7 Florida Tech 77-64 in the
quarterfinals, and then lost a heartbreaker to Barry, 62-60 in the
semifinals. The Tars have never won the SSC Tournament championship
as the No. 2 seed.
Rollins is 8-8 all-time against Florida Southern in SSC
Tournament play. They have met for the conference championship six
times with Rollins winning twice. The two rivals last battled for
the 2003 championship with No. 1 FSC beating No. 3 Rollins 71-62 in
overtime.
Rollins vs. Florida Southern in the SSC Championship Game:
1987 - No. 1 Fla. Southern 94, No. 2 Rollins 89
1988 - No. 1 Rollins 77, No. 2 Fla. Southern 73
1989 - No. 2 Fla. Southern 82, No. 1 Rollins 75
1998 - No. 1 Fla. Southern 94, No. 2 Rollins 77
1999 - No. 1 Rollins 89, No. 2 Fla. Southern 80
2003 - No. 1 Fla. Southern 71, No. 3 Rollins 62 (OT)
THE TARS STARS - Sunshine State Conference
Newcomer of the Year Ashley Jones leads Rollins' season box score,
averaging 11.6 points per game. She is one of the top 3-point
shooters in the SSC, hitting 55-of-156 from long range. The
sophomore also pulled down 3.7 rebounds a game. Kourtnie Berry adds
8.2 points a game off the bench and is Rollins top free throw
shooter at 76 percent for the season. Sarah Blackburn chips in 7.8
points a night while SSC Defensive Player of the Year and Second
Team honoree Paris Moore leads the SSC with 2.8 steals a game, also
adding 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds a night.
THE SILVER FOX - Rollins legend Glenn Wilkes,
Jr. (Stetson '81) is in his 26th season at the helm of the Tars
program and, with a record of 576-188, is the winningest coach in
program history. Wilkes, Jr. is the fifth winningest active coach
in Division II (seventh by win total) and is the 13th winningest
coach all-time. Wilkes has been named the SSC Coach of the Year a
record nine-times and was named the head coach of the Sunshine
State Conference Silver Anniversary Team.
