Panthers Beat Mocs, Head to SSC Title Game

Gudlau Juliusdottir (#11) had 15 points in the Panthers victory - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography

On what amounted to a historic day in the history of Florida Tech Women’s basketball, the Panthers stunned the second seed Florida Southern Moccasins 58-52 in the semifinal round of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament.

Florida Southern (20-9) uncharacteristically turned it over 22 times. Florida Tech took advantage, scoring 24 points off those turnovers. The Panthers were generous in their own right, coughing it up 19 times. Southern scored 20 as a result.

Julie McCarthy was bound and determined to keep her senior season going with a double-double on Saturday, 12 points and 11 rebounds. She threw in two blocks and two steals just for good measure.

“We’ve been up and down all year and the last couple games we’ve been just trying to focus on one game at a time,” said McCarthy after the game. “Now it’s just another game tomorrow and we’ll try to focus and prepare as much as we can.”

Freshman Gudlau Juliusdottir led the Panthers with 15 points. She was 6-for-12 from the floor and had three assists.

“I just felt good,” said Juliusdottir in her postgame press conference. “We played tough and when we play good together as a team, it makes it easier to make baskets.”

The Panthers (15-13) made history, becoming the first six seed in the tournament to ever make it to the championship game and they are also the first six seed to ever beat a number two seed.

“That’s what the parity in this league is like,” said Florida Tech coach John Reynolds. “We had to go to Rollins and beat the number three team in the region… for the reward, you get to play the number two team in the league, the number four team in the region, Florida Southern.”

It wasn’t easy for the Panthers, who had to withstand an 11-point run to open the game by Florida Southern, who held an eight-point advantage, 20-12 at the end of the first quarter.

The Florida Tech offense got rolling in the second half. Down 24-14, they went on an 8-0 run, to cut it to 24-22 with 3:25 to go. Florida Southern got it to 28-25, but two free-throws from Michaela Gelbaugh with 1:22 to go, made it a one point game. Both teams had their opportunities in the last minute, but neither could get a shot to go.

The Panthers were down by one at the half 28-27, only shooting 31 percent from the field (9-for-29), but they were 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. The defense is what kept them in the game, as they held the Moccasins to eight points in that second quarter.

John Reynolds in the huddle - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography

Florida Tech started the third quarter with an 8-0 run and led 35-28, but Florida Southern answered with a run of their own, taking a 36-35 lead on a free throw by Jensen Blassage with 3:29 to go.

That would be the final point in the quarter for Florida Southern, as Tech scored the final eight points of the quarter and held the Mocs to eight points for the second consecutive stanza. The Panthers led 43-36, with one quarter remaining.

Markeema Crawford got the quarter off to a good start, draining a big three and giving her team a 10-point lead. They lead by 10 again with 6:37 left, when Juliusdottir hit a jumper to get it to 50-40. 

Florida Southern did not go quietly, rattling off the next seven points, before Juliusdottir’s jumper made it 52-47, with 3:03 to go. Florida Southern got it to within three with 34 seconds left, helped by McCarthy’s two missed free-throws that might have iced it.

After a DeLise Williams free-throw made it 56-52, McCarthy made up for her missed freebies when she came up with a huge steal on the Mocs next possession. Tereza Sedlakova drained the two free-throws that did ice it, with 12 seconds to go, keeping the Panthers improbable season alive.

For more info: Florida Tech @ Florida Southern Box Score (SSC Tournament Semifinal)

The Panthers will now play number one seed Eckerd for the tournament title on Sunday.

“They’re like a machine,” Reynolds said of Eckerd. “I’ve been happy for them all year because I thought Eckerd has really been the best team in our league, best team in the region all year and they play like it at times. They execute you to death, so we gotta just come out and try to out tough them.”

The game tips off at 1:00 p.m. and will be available on Watch ESPN

**All quotes courtesy of the Sunshine State Conference, during live post-game press conference.


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