MELBOURNE, Fla. – Shooting only 28 percent from the field (17-for-60), the Saint Leo women’s basketball team (3-4, 0-1 SSC) was edged by the Florida Tech Panthers (7-1, 1-0 SSC), 59-53, Saturday evening from the Clemente Center. The loss snaps a three-game winning streak against the Panthers.
Behind a combined a 23 points from Brittany Carannante and Chelsea Williams, the Lions cut a 19-point second half deficit to as little as four with three minutes left to play. Still, clutch free throw shooting by the Panthers preserved the win for Florida Tech. In addition to her game high 12 points, Williams hauled eight rebounds. Lauren Lee also chipped in seven points and seven boards.
Highlighting the win for the Panthers was a 20-8 run over a 12 minute span of the second half.
In the first half, a Williams basket less than a minute into the game gave the Lions their only lead of the contest. From there, Lynisha Nelson’s perimeter shooting ignited an 11-3 run to gain a five point lead. However, Williams cut the lead to two, 14-12, on a layup with 10:43 left to play.
The Panthers forced the issue once again, as they executed their second significant run of the game, going on an 8-0 scamper to gain a 10-point lead, 22-12.
After pushing the lead to 12, Saint Leo closed the half with five quick points to go into the locker room down just seven, 31-24.
The intermission put a wrinkle into the Lions’ momentum though as Florida Tech extended their lead to as much as 19 points behind a 20-8 run over the first 12 minutes of the second half. The Panthers’ Ashton McClairen’s scored seven of her 12 points during the stretch.
The Lions refused to quit, however, as Caranannte rallied-off five consecutive points, in additions to Williams layup, to shrink the lead to 12 with 6:04 left to play. Five straight free throws, including three by Elise Clyburn, cut the lead to six with 2:45 remaining.
Unfortunately, with the Lions on the verge of minimizing the lead even more, the offense went cold, as each team went scoreless for the next two minutes. The Lions’ offence heated up again during the final 30 seconds as Clyburn connected on a pair of free throws and Carannante struck for another clutch three to cut the lead to four with 16 second left to play. That was as close as Saint Leo came though as Florida Tech held to their minimal lead and escape with the win.
Overall, the Lions bench outscored the Panthers, 30-16, while the both teams registered 24 points in the paint. Unfortunately, 20 Saint Leo turnovers resulted in 22 Tech points helping secure the win.
The Lions will now turn their attention to Puerto Rico preparations, as they will head to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a trio of games beginning Tuesday, December 14
