MELBOURNE, Fla. (February 27, 2019) – Rollins earned a spot in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament Wednesday, beating Florida Tech 64-50 in Melbourne.
The Tars (11-14, 8-11 SSC) saw 10 different players score, led by 10 points from Denise Daniels. Tianna Rosser, Rachel Lia and Yari Martinez-Toro each scored eight while Carly McLendon tallied six points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
Florida Tech (8-19, 4-15 SSC) was led by 10 points from Tereza Sedlakova. Fanny Hakanson scored eight.
Rollins shot 40 percent from the field while also outrebounding its hosts 45-34.
The Tars held FIT scoreless for more than five minutes at the start and built a 10-3 lead early in the first. The Panthers then came back on Rollins and cut the Tars lead to 13-8 after the first 10 minutes.
After Tech made it a one possession game twice early in the second, the Tars closed the first half on a run and grabbed a 33-22 lead by intermission.
Rollins led 43-33 at the midway point of the third, but Florida Tech ended the period on a 8-2 run and closed to within 45-41 heading into the fourth.
The Tars were dominant in the final quarter, outscoring Tech 15-3 over the first six minutes and building their largest lead of the game, 60-44. Rollins would only allow two more FIT buckets the rest of the way and posted a big road win to start the final week of the regular season.
Rollins finishes off its schedule on Saturday, March 2 at Florida Southern. The Mocs have already wrapped up the SSC Championship and top seed in the tournament while Rollins is currently the seventh seed and looking at a trip to Tampa in the first round. The Tars and Florida Southern will tip at 5:30 p.m. in Jenkins Field House. Fans can catch the action live on the Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com and locally on 91.5 FM WPRK.
