LAKELAND, Fla. – The Lady Hawks dropped their season opener to No. 6 Florida Southern, 84-42.
In the opening period, Shorter struggled to find its rhythm while Florida Southern made its first six field goals, jumping out to an 11-0 lead.
Taylor Adams' free throw put the Lady Hawks on the board and the team pulled within nine, 13-4, after a basket by
Raven Fair and
Kayla Tillie free throw. From there, the Mocs went on 12-7 run to close the quarter and take a 25-11 advantage.
The Lady Hawks used the early parts of the second period to cut into the Florida Southern lead, with
Roni Richardson scoring SU's first points of the quarter and cutting the lead to 12. Shorter got within 11 two separate times, first via 3-pointer by Richardson and then thanks to a Tillie layup. Tillie's field goal made the score 29-18, but the Lady Hawks never managed to erase the double-digit lead as the Mocs ended the quarter on a 15-6 run to take a 48-24 lead into the locker room.
Florida Southern shot 58% in the opening half, while Shorter converted only 33% of its attempts.
The Lady Hawks quickly scored the first six points of the third quarter, with Adams making four consecutive free throws and Tillie hitting a jumper. With the deficit down to 18, the Mocs took a timeout, and promptly increased their lead after the timeout. The home team went on a 12-3 run to take a 27-point lead. Tilie's conversion from beyond the arc was the only SU basket during the Mocs run.
Over the final 4:28 of the period, the teams traded baskets and heading into the final period the Lady Hawks trailed 66-38.
In the fourth, Tillie and
Denise Newton scored for Shorter and when the final buzzer sounded, the Lady Hawks fell 84-42.
Shorter shot just 32% from the field for the game. Florida Southern made 48% of its shots and held a 45-30 advantage in rebounds. The Lady Hawks shot 8 of 12 from the free-throw line, while the Mocs were 10 of 16.
Tillie and Adams each had 12 points, while Adams led the Lady Hawks with nine rebounds. Florida Southern's Jensen Blassage led all scorers with 19 points.
Shorter will look for its first win of the season tomorrow afternoon when it takes on St Leo. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. eastern from St. Leo, Florida.
