WINTER PARK, Fla. (February 5, 2025) - Women's basketball suffered a tough home loss on Wednesday, falling to the Florida Tech Panthers 71-67. The loss drops the Tars to 7-13 on the year with a 2-11 record in the SSC.
Both teams got off to a sluggish start in the first.
Aaliyah Irizarry-Perez nailed a three for the first field goal of the game, with
Kaitlyn Sanders adding one of her own at the 7:11 mark. The next 4:19 of clock saw zero made field goals from either side.
Tara Murray had a tough drive and finish near the end of the quarter, which saw Tech lead 16-10 at the horn.
The second quarter saw both teams improve on offense.
Emily McIntosh knocked down a three and moments later,
Paris Triplett finished a nice and-one off a feed from
Zai Mitchell. Murray and
Claire Erickson connected from distance near the end of the quarter, but a late Tech layup had them up 34-29 at the break.
Florida Tech was able to knock down half of their shots in the third to extend their lead. Sanders did everything she could to keep Rollins in the game, including a fantastic shot-clock beating step-back three from Sanders to keep the Tars within two possessions. She also knocked down a pair of free throws at the end of the quarter, but Rollins still trailed 53-45 after three.
The Tars played well in the fourth, but ultimately came up just short. They converted more than 50% of their shots from the floor, while limiting the Panthers to 2-8 shooting. McIntosh got hot from the floor, at one point scoring twelve straight points for Rollins. The problem was the amount of whistles going against the Tars, which turned into 15 free throw attempts for Tech. They converted all but one of those freebies, and held on for a 71-67 win.
Sanders scored 18 points while adding five boards and three assists. McIntosh matched her 18 points, shooting an efficient 7-11 from the floor. Five different Panthers reached double digits in scoring, led by Tai Roberts' 15.
Next up for Rollins is another home game on Saturday, February 8 against Tampa. The game will have a Pink Out theme, raising awareness for breast cancer research. Fans in attendance are encouraged to don pink gear as they cheer on the Tars. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 pm.
