Panthers’ Season Ends in Women’s Basketball
By Florida Tech // March 8, 2013
FIT Finishes Year With 16-11 Record
KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech struggled out of the gate against Rollins in the Sunshine State Conference quarterfinal round. The Panthers found themselves down 14 points at the half and were not able to recover in the second half to fall to the Tars by a score of 79-53 on Thursday at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee.
“We haven’t had any intensity in three weeks,” FIT head coach John Reynolds said. “It looked like we were just going through the motions today on the court, and we didn’t challenge any of their shooters.”
Rollins (19-8) jumped out to an 11-1 lead over the first six minutes of the contest before Florida Tech (16-11) recorded its first field goal.
The Tars increased their lead to 24-9 by the second media timeout with 8:08 remaining in the first half.
Redshirt freshman Peggy Smith scored the Panthers’ first 3-point bucket with 3:57 remaining in the half to cut the deficit to 26-14, but Rollins responded with 9-2 run to extend its lead to 19 points.
Junior Ida Gustafsson drained a triple from the top of the key with less than a minute remaining to send the Panthers into halftime down 35-21.
Rollins’ lead extended to 20 points just four minutes into the second half and it was able to keep that cushion the rest of the way. The Tars took their largest lead of 28 points with 2:15 remaining on the clock before earning their 79-53 quarterfinal round victory.
FIT is now 26-21 all-time at the SSC championships under Reynolds with a 4-8 record against Rollins.
Sophomore Kayk Wilson led the Panthers with 12 points—10 points coming in the second half. Sophomore Rosie Hynes went 5-of-9 from the field for 11 points. Junior Rita Acevedo scored nine points and added six rebounds, while senior Jami Chappell, playing in her final game as a Panther, recorded a game-high 10 rebounds.
FIT finishes the season with a 16-11 overall record.
