Rollins (13-13)
at
Fla. Southern (23-4)
When:
SSC Tournament Quarterfinal
March 2, 2016 - 7 p.m.
Where:
George W. Jenkins Field House - Lakeland, Fla.
Serving as the No. 6 seed, Rollins will travel to third-seed
Florida Southern for the SSC Tournament Quarterfinal Round. The two
teams met twice during the regular season with the Moccasins
sweeping the season series. Fans can watch all the action live
through links on RollinsSports.com
ROLLINS AT A GLANCE: The last time out, Rollins
jumped out to a huge first half lead before hanging on late,
closing their regular season with an 82-81 win at Palm Beach
Atlantic.
Marie
Gilbert led Rollins with 17 points and 11 rebounds, recording
her first career double-double. Julia
Ingler had 15 while Carly
McLendon scored 13 with five boards. Tanaya
Jones had a career high eight assists before fouling out. As a
team, Rollins shot 39 percent from the field and outrebounded Palm
Beach Atlantic, 48-41.
The Tars averaged 63.3 points per game during the regular season
on 36 percent shooting. They hit just over six threes a night and
averaged 12.2 assists. On the defensive end, Rollins is allowing
65.3 points a contest and forcing over 16 turnovers per game.
Ingler leads the season box score with 11.5 points a night,
followed closely by Gilbert at 11.1 points per game. Gilbert also
led the team in rebounding all season long and enters the
tournament averaging an even six a night.
Glenn Wilkes
Jr. (Stetson '81) is in his 30th year leading the Tars. Wilkes
is the winningest coach in Sunshine State Conference history,
winning a record 13 regular season titles and eight SSC Tournament
Championships. His career record of 663-225 season ranks ninth best
among active coaches in Division II and 14th all-time.
He has the sixth most victories in the history of Division II and
ranks 34th all-time covering all divisions.
FLORIDA SOUTHERN AT A GLANCE: Florida Southern
(23-4, 12-4 SSC) will be one of the four teams hosting a
quarterfinal round game on Wednesday as the Moccasins, who finished
tied for second in the league standings with Florida Tech, earned
the No. 3 seed due to being swept by the Panthers in the regular
season.
Last time out, Florida Southern closed out the 2015-16 regular
season last Saturday afternoon with a signature victory as the
Moccasins posted a 63-60 win over 18th-ranked Nova Southeastern in
Sunshine State Conference action on Senior Night at Jenkins Field
House. With the victory, the Moccasins wrapped up the regular
season with a 23-4 overall and a 12-4 mark in the SSC.
Jensen Blassage finished the game with 19 points, including
scoring 13 of them in the first half. Over her last three games,
Blassage is averaging 19 points per game and shooting 58 percent
from the field and 75 percent (6-for-8) from the 3-point line. In
addition to Blassage, freshman forward Anja Fuchs-Robetin added 11
points and five boards, while Shaquita Snow and freshman guard
Camille Giardina each had 10 points in the win.
The Mocs ranked among the SSC leaders is scoring all year,
entering the tournament averaging 72.2 points per game while
allowing 68.8 on the defensive end. Mariah Harris leads FSC in
scoring at 13.3 a night while Blassage is also in double figures
entering Wednesday at 12.2.
Betsy Harris is in her second season as the head coach of the
Florida Southern women's basketball team in the 2015-16 season
after helping the Moccasins improve in the win column during her
first season. After being named the seventh head coach in the
program's 37-year history, Harris' Mocs went 13-14 overall and 7-9
inside the Sunshine State Conference during the 2014-15 season.
THE SERIES: Rollins owns a 49-48 all-time
record against Florida Southern.
ROLLINS IN THE SSC TOURNAMENT: Rollins is 47-27
all-time in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament, winning eight
times. In quarterfinal play, Rollins is 21-3. The Tars are 10-8
against Florida Southern in the bracket, last meeting in the 2012
finals where the second-seed Rollins upset the top-seed Mocs
71-68.
NEXT UP FOR ROLLINS:. The winner will meet the
winner of No. 2-seed Florida Tech vs. No. 7-seed Eckerd in the SSC
semifinal on Saturday, March 5th at 7:30 p.m. The SSC
Tournament semifinals and finals will be held at the ICI
Center on the campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in
Daytona Beach on March 5-6. Both tournaments move to the ICI
Center after three years at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee.
Prior to Silver Spurs Arena, the tournaments were held at member
institutions from 2002 to 2012.
