WINTER PARK, Fla. – Turnovers continue to plague the Saint Leo women’s basketball team (9-14, 1-12 SSC), as they were upended by the Rollins College Tars (20-5, 8-5 SSC), 73-50, Saturday afternoon from the Warden Arena in Sunshine State Conference action.
Offensively, Jamarra Robinson posted another steller night of scoring as she led the team with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting. The guard also tied for the team-high in assists with two and registered a team-high four steals. Lauren Lee also bucketed eight points and tied for the team-lead in rebounds with seven. Chelsea Connelly continued to show improvement as a freshman, scoring seven points and tying Lee with seven rebounds.
In total, the team committed 24 turnovers, resulting in 26 points for the Tars. The Tars also lit the nets on fire from the perimeter, as they netted 16-of-31 (51.6%) three-point field goal attempts, while the Lions went 0-for-6 from the same distance.
Still, the Lions did create a low-post presence connecting on nearly 40 percent (20-for-51) of their field goals, while tallying more than half their points from inside the paint.
The Tars came out red-hot, as they blistered the nets during the opening minutes with four consecutive three-pointers. Amber Heistan used two more three-point field goal over the next two minutes to give the Tars a 21-4 lead just 4:56 into the game.
Despite Robinson’s best efforts to keep the Lions in the game, the perimeter onslaught continued by the Tars, as they stretched the lead to 20 with 11:20 left to play. Back-to-back baskets by Kiara Bradley, in addition to Artigua Kilpatrick’s layup, briefly cut the lead to 14 with 10:40 left in the first half.
The three ball continued to pace the Tars with a 20-point, 44-24, lead going into the halftime break.
The 15-minute pause did not affect the Tars’ stroke as they erupted for 12 of the first 14 points of the second half.
Despite being faced with a substantial deficit, the Lions’ Robinson began to help chip away at the Tars’ lead. Her four consecutive points, coupled with Chanele Patton’s layup, cut the lead to 22. The 8-0 run, however, only seemed to spark the Tars’ intrigue to shoot the three-point shot even more, as they connected on three consecutive deep balls to regain their large lead.
With Rollins holding a running margin of 26 over the final minutes of the game, a late charge led by Bradley and Elise Clyburn helped in reducing the lead and demonstrating the Lions resilient attitude.
Despite the wide margin final, the Lions remained close to the Tars in the rebounding category, falling just one rebound shy of Rollins’ 34.
Saint Leo will return to the court on Wednesday, February 16, when they host archenemy Tampa. Tip-off for the Sunshine State Conference tilt is set for 5:30 p.m.
