MELBOURNE, Fla. (November 29, 2023) - Women's basketball opened their conference schedule with a road win against Florida Tech on Wednesday, winning 62-54. The Tars now stand at 2-3 on the year (1-0 SSC), while the Panthers fall to 3-6, 0-1 SSC.
The Panthers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before Rollins could get their first basket on an
Aaliyah Irizarry-Perez layup. Soon after, neither team converted a field goal chance for more than three minutes. However, free throws kept the Tars close, though Tech did manage to pull away a bit at the end of the quarter as they led 19-11.
Lucy Leen got things started in the second with a three, with
Erin Leigh adding a jumper moments later to make it 21-16. The Tars defense then stepped up, not allowing a made field goal for nearly five minutes of game time.
Maddie Dillinger scored four straight points to pull Rollins within two at 25-23, but Florida Tech would hang on for the remainder of the quarter to take a 30-25 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the break,
Ajalon Gillard and
Erin Leigh knocked down threes to give Rollins a 31-30 lead. After the Panthers retook the lead, Leen and Leigh combined for the next seven points to put Rollins back in front. Late in the period, Leigh knocked down another triple, followed by a layup from Dillinger, but a last second three from Emily Acampora kept the Panthers ahead 44-43 with one quarter to play.
The game stayed a one possession affair all the way until the 2:20 mark when a
Claire Erickson jump shot made it 56-52 Tars. Neither team would make a field goal for the remainder of the game; however, Rollins was able to knock down six free throws to close out their 62-54 win.
The Tars defense held the Panthers to 3-18 shooting in the fourth quarter, and without a field goal for the final 5:39 of the game
Leen led the scoring for Rollins with 16 points that included hitting all three of her three-point attempts. Dillinger added 12, and Leigh scored 10. Irizarry was a beast on the boards, collecting 14 rebounds.
Next up for the Tars is another SSC road game. On Saturday, December 2, Rollins will face the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish at 2:00 pm in West Palm Beach.
