Panthers Bounce Back with Big Win Over Nova Southeastern

James Ragan Photography
Shequana Harris - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography
After a difficult loss, Wednesday night against Rollins, the Florida Tech women bounced back to beat the Nova Southeastern Sharks 57-46 on Saturday, led by Shequana Harris, who had a game high 16 points. Markeema Crawford chipped in 11.

The Sharks came in ranked 22nd nationally and had won five in a row. They fell to 6-2 overall and the Panthers handed them their first loss in the Sunshine State Conference.

“We outrebounded them by 10 37-27 and that was the game,” said Florida Tech head coach John Reynolds in his postgame interview with Jim Mitchell. “Julie McCarthy had 10 and played a great game today.”

Things got off to a bit of a slow start for the Panthers, who were outscored 17-10 in the first quarter, including a 10-2 Nova run to end the quarter.

The slow start could have been due in large part to the absence of Tanease Richardson who was injured against Rollins and Michaela Gelbaugh, who had a family emergency. Obviously, Nova deserves credit for a great shooting performance in the quarter, but those factors had the Panthers down after 10 minutes.

Having Richardson and Gelbaugh out, left the door open for a couple other youngsters, Aniquah Swan and Gudlaug Juliusdottir who along with Amanda Allen, impressed Reynolds.

“Those three freshmen were the difference in the game today,” he said. “This was the first chance they had to really compete at the conference level and a game of this magnitude.”

Allen finished with six points and three rebounds, while shutting down Nova’s best three-point shooter on the other end, Samantha Logan, who was 2-for-5.

Gracie Doane got the Panthers jumpstarted with a three to start the quarter and Allen followed that with a two, giving the Panthers a 5-0 run to start the second. 

Reynolds in the huddle - Credit: James Ragan Photography
The Panthers eventually tied the game at 19, amid a 13-2 run. They ended the second quarter up, 25-23 and held the Sharks to just six second quarter points.

The Panthers (6-2, 2-2 SSC) started the third quarter with a 6-0 run and led 31-23 before Nova scored their first point on a free-throw with 6:11 to go in the quarter. Tereza Sedlakova hit a three-pointer moments later and the Panthers were off and running again.

After NSU got two back, DeLise Williams drilled a three, to make it a 37-26 game and open an 8-0 run. The quarter ended 44-30 in favor of FIT, who held the Sharks to seven points in the third quarter.

The Sharks forced some early turnovers in the fourth quarter and got the lead down to six -- 46-40, but the Panthers forced three turnovers, including a McCarthy block underneath to stem the tide a bit. Harris turned that into points on the other end and got the lead back up to 10, 50-40.

For more info: Nova Southeastern @ Florida Tech Box Score

Nova never threatened again and the Panthers got back in the win column. They will now get a bit of a break, before heading to Tampa next Saturday to play the Spartans, at 6:00 p.m.

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