Sports Lowdown

Julie McCarthy - Photo credit: James Ragan Julie McCarthy scored 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds Saturday, in her final regular season game with the Panthers, helping Florida Tech secure a 56-46 victory over Palm Beach Atlantic and finish the regular season on a winning note. “Obviously, there was no hangover for Julie with the corrective measures we took on Wednesday ,” said Florida Tech coach John Reynolds. Give her credit for being a good teammate, I’m proud of her.” “This group of kids has faced all kinds of adversity throughout the year, as much as any team I’ve ever coached,” he continued. “Today what we did was battle ourselves back to be 13-13. We got back to .500… and I thought that was the goal.” Florida Tech (13-13, 8-10 SSC) dominated the first quarter, leading 17-8 and played well in the second quarter, getting three pointers from Markeema Crawford and Amanda Allen early. DeLise Williams made her defense pay off after a steal, she dished to A...

Ashle Thompson (#4) had a career-high 12 points on Wednesday - Credit: James Ragan Photography Senior Ashle Thompson scored a career-high 12 points and pulled down seven boards on Wednesday, helping Florida Tech beat Tampa 58-54 in a Sunshine State Conference battle at the Clemente Center. Thompson, who scored a total of 15 points last season, took advantage of the opportunity she was afforded Wednesday night, getting the start and paying big dividends. She was 6-of-7 from the floor. “I’m really proud of her, but more importantly, I’m happy for her,” said Florida Tech coach John Reynolds. “I am happy for a senior who has been a role player for four years and has seen limited action. Over the last couple weeks, she just decided she was gonna go out and have fun and tonight, she had fun.” Thompson scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half, when the Panthers scored 36 as a team. This despite Florida Tech being without the services of Amanda Allen (sprained ankle...

DeLise Williams - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Saint Leo Lions overcame an 11-point first quarter deficit to beat the Florida Tech women, 70-65 in a Sunshine State Conference contest on Saturday at the Bowman Center. It was only the third win for the Lions in the conference. DeLise Williams led FIT with 16 points, including 3-for-7 from beyond the arc. Gudlau Juliusdottir was the only other Florida Tech player in double digits, with 13. Three Lions players were in double digits, led by 21 from Chelsy Springs, who also had 11 rebounds, completing a double-double. Florida Tech coach John Reynolds couldn’t have drawn up a better start on the road than his team put together. Markeema Crawford and Williams hit back-to-back threes to jump out to a 12-5 lead. Williams hit another three as part of a 9-0 run and the Panthers were up 21-10 at the end of the first quarter. The Lions did not score in the last 4:14. The Lions (8-14, 3-11 SSC) started the second ...

Tereza Sedlakova - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech women’s basketball team dropped a very winnable game on Wednesday, losing to the Florida Southern Moccasins, 51-45 at the Clemente Center. “I think this loss is the most disappointing game of the season, winning or losing,” said Florida Tech coach John Reynolds. “People talk about the injuries we’ve had… if you make excuses, you end up with regrets. For me, no excuses... the five guys we had on the floor were good enough to win the game.” Tereza Sedlakova led the way in scoring for FIT, scoring 11 points, to go with six rebounds. She was the only Florida Tech player in double figures. Markeema Crawford had nine points and Julie McCarthy tacked on eight, to go with her 13 rebounds. The Mocs, who came in with a record of 14-7, including 10-3 in the Sunshine State Conference struggled offensively, for much of the game, but the Panthers were fighting to find offense as well and couldn’t take ad...

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 22 nd 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 Gelbaug...