Sports Lowdown

Shequana Harris - James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech women’s basketball team escaped Saturday with a 61-58 road win against Sunshine State Conference foe, Palm Beach Atlantic. It was the Panthers first road win of the season. It was a bit if a different look for the Panthers to start the game, with Amanda Allen and Ashle Thompson getting the start, ahead of names like Julie McCarthy and Shequana Harris . Those players did come in a little more than halfway through the first quarter. “We had a couple things that went on this week that we weren’t happy with,” said Florida Tech coach John Reynolds, in his post-game interview with Jim Mitchell. “We started kids that hadn’t started and they had the lead 12-6. We subbed, but they continued to play in the first half for us. I thought this was the best team win we’ve had.” Despite not starting, Harris led the Panthers with 15 points and McCarthy finished with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds. She also contribu...

DeLise Williams - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Following a big win last Wednesday at home against Embry-Riddle, the Florida Tech women’s basketball team was hoping to make it two in a row against Florida Southern. Unfortunately, the Panthers were overmatched by the Moccasins and dropped an 87-73 decision at Jenkins Field House on Wednesday night. “They (Florida Southern) did a good job offensively, they did a good job defensively,” said Florida Tech coach John Reynolds, in his postgame interview with Jerry Durney. “Sometimes it’s not that you played so poorly, sometimes just gotta give the other team some credit.” Florida Tech (7-7, 2-5 SSC) did get out to an early 6-2 lead in the game, but the Panthers got some good defense, including a steal by Michaela Gelbaugh with 1:38 left to go in the quarter. DeLise Williams followed that with two free-throws, putting the Panthers up 14-11 with 1:35 to go. Gianna Vastola scored four of the next six points for the ...

Gracie Doane - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech women’s basketball team were doomed by a poor third quarter Friday night that saw the Lynn Fighting Knights outscore the Panthers 22-11, en route to a 71-61 Sunshine State Conference victory. The loss was the fourth in a row for Florida Tech. The Panthers troubles started early when leading scorer Shequana Harris was called for a foul two seconds into the contest. She picked up a second foul early and her third, just as the third quarter got underway. When all was said, and done, Harris played three minutes and scored two points. Florida Tech (6-6, 2-4 SSC) held their own early without her, leading 13-12 with 1:23 left in the first quarter, thanks to a layup by Gudlau Juliusdottir before Lynn overtook them, scoring five straight points and leading 17-13 at the end of the first quarter. Lynn (7-4, 2-3 SSC) extended their lead to 23-15 early in the second quarter and were up 27-19 before Gracie D...

Julie McCarthy - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Women’s team put up a fight against the nationally ranked and undefeated Bellarmine on Sunday, before falling 68-61 in the Palm Beach Atlantic Holiday Hoops Classic. The Panthers were their own worst enemy, hitting only one of 14 three-pointers and turning the ball over 23 times. Foul-shooting kept the Panthers in this game, as they hit 26-of-29 from the line, in a game that featured a combined 56 fouls and 61 foul shots. Bellarmine finished 23-for-32 from the stripe. Julie McCarthy led the Panthers with a career-high 25 points and hit 15 of her 17 free throws. She also had 10 rebounds. Shequana Harris chipped in 18. Sarah Galvin led the Knights with a double-double, scoring 16 points and pulling down 11 boards. She scored her 1,000 th point as a member of the Knights in this contest. Things started well for the Panthers, who scored the first seven points of the game, but Bellarmine roa...

Gracie Doane - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Women’s Basketball team fell to Tampa 66-53 Saturday, in a Sunshine State Conference tilt. Spartans’ senior Elena de Alfredo, hit seven of her 13 shots, including two three-pointers, leading the home team with 19 points. The first half was nip-and-tuck, with each team scoring 11 points in the first quarter. Back-to-back threes by de Alfredo late in the first quarter gave the Spartans an 11-8 lead, but Gracie Doane answered late for the Panthers, tying things up. Doane finished with 11 points, including three of eight from beyond the arc. She was the only Florida Tech player in double figures on this day. DeLise Williams started the second quarter with a three for the Panthers, giving them a 14-13 lead, but de Alfredo answered with another bucket and she had 12 of Tampa’s 15 points early. The Panthers hit a bit of a lull, going scoreless for 3:38, but they hung tough and trailed 22-21. Julie McC...

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...

The Florida Tech Women’s basketball team made a late run at a comeback Wednesday against Rollins, but ultimately the Tars hung on for a 72-67 Sunshine State Conference win. “It comes down to Rollins wanted that game more than we did,” said Panthers head coach John Reynolds. “I’m thinking that and it hurts me to say something like that, but you can’t come out in a conference game and go 3-for-14 on three’s.” Florida Tech (5-2, 1-2 SSC) led 14-11 after one quarter, The Panthers were within a point at 27-26, but a six-point run by Rollins late in the second helped them outscore the Panthers 25-14 in the quarter and go to the locker room with a 36-28 advantage. The visitors were 5-of-13 beyond the arc in that first half, while the Panthers went 0-for-8. Shequana Harris had eight points and three rebounds in the first 20 minutes, to pace the Panthers. “I think she played as hard and as good as she could,” said Reynolds of Harris. Marie Gilbert gave the Tars a 42-33 adv...

Ready for tip-off  The Florida Tech women won their third straight game Saturday afternoon, beating Webber International, 84-66 at the Clemente Center. Shequana Harris led all scorers with 17, Delise Williams and Kareese Johnson both had 10. Julie McCarthy just missed a double-double, with eight points and 12 boards. “Kareese was key for us off the bench,” said Panthers coach John Reynolds. She rebounded the ball, she handled the ball, she attacked the basket and played really solid for us.” “I’m really proud of my bench players, Reynolds continued, they played hard all day.” The Panthers led from the get-go, with Williams hitting a three-pointer 25 seconds into the game.  After Webber got to within 5-4, went on a nine-point run, highlighted by a Gracie Doane three. The Panthers carried that to a 22-15 lead after 10 minutes. With 3:43 left in the quarter, the Panthers led 37-28 and they went on an 8-2 run to end the half. FIT took a 45-30 lead to...

Shequana Harris scored 15 points and the Florida Tech Women’s basketball team pulled down 45 rebounds, en route to an 84-40 win over the Warner Royals on Friday. It was a team effort for the Panthers who had at least one rebound from each of the 14 players that saw action. “Everybody played and played some extended minutes and everybody had at least one rebound,” said Panthers coach John Reynolds after the game. “It was a good game to get everybody some playing time and reward them for their efforts in practice.” It was evident early on that Reynolds was going to be able to empty his bench in this one. Up 4-3, the Panthers went on an 8-0 run and were up 12-3 with 5:48 left. A three-ball from Kaley Schmick, pulled the Royals to within four, 12-8, but the Panthers went on a 7-0 run to push the lead to 19-8 and ended the first quarter, leading 23-13. The second quarter was sloppy on both sides for the first five and a half minutes. Both teams combined to score six po...

The Florida Tech Women’s basketball team picked up their first Sunshine State Conference win of the season, with a 65-58 victory over the Barry Buccaneers. The game was tied at four early, but the Panthers went on an 11-point run, to take a 15-4 lead. After expanding the lead to 18-7, Florida Tech watched the Buccaneers rattle off 11 of their own, to tie the game at 18. Julie McCarthy ’s layup at the end of the first quarter, gave the Panthers a 20-18 lead after the first 10 minutes. “It’s a conference game and a big start just means we made our run first,” said Panthers coach John Reynolds. “You know conference teams are gonna make a run right back at ya, leads like that fall apart.” McCarthy had a double-double in this game, with 10 of her 20 points coming in the first half. She also pulled down six offensive boards and 10 on the defensive glass. “I thought Julie was really good today on both ends of the floor,” said Reynolds. “Kiara Palmer is averaging 16 point...

The Florida Tech women never got their offense going Wednesday at Eckerd, as their slow start doomed them in a 65-53 loss, to open the Sunshine State Conference schedule. The Panthers trailed from the outset in this one, turning the ball over 11 times in the first half and hitting just 15-of-60 shots from the field in the contest. “Eckerd returns a bunch of juniors and seniors. Three starters are from last year and the first three kids off the bench are from last years’ team,” said Florida Tech coach John Reynolds in his post-game interview with Paul Van Scott. “We knew we’d be playing a team that was a month and a half ahead of us preparation wise." The Panthers (2-1, 0-1 SSC) did just enough in the first quarter to stay afloat. They shot 7-of-12 from the field and got six points from Tanease Richardson . Delise Williams hit a shot at the buzzer and concluding a 6-0 run by the Panthers to get within three at 18-15. Seven Panther turnovers were the difference in the ...

Two games, two victories for the Florida Tech women’s basketball team. Coming off an opening night win over LeMoyne-Owen on Friday, the Panthers took care of business again on Saturday, beating St. Michael’s College, 66-59 on day two of the Rollins College Classic. Julie McCarthy led the Panthers with a double-double Saturday, with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The first quarter went back-and-forth with the score tied three times. Shequana Harris hit a lay-up with 29 seconds left, putting the Panthers up 16-14 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was more of the same, with the Panthers leading throughout, with a five-point advantage in the quarter on two occasions, before St. Michaels closed the gap to one. Both teams scored 19 points in the quarter and the Panthers maintained a two-point advantage at the half, 35-33. The Panthers (2-0) put their best quarter together in the third, outscoring the Purple Knights, 20-14. SMC tied the score at 35 withi...

The Florida Tech Women’s basketball team got their season off on the right foot Friday afternoon, with a 73-50 win over LeMoyne-Owen at the Rollins College Classic in Winter Park. Florida Tech (1-0) got 41 points off their bench in this contest and overcame a 19-12 deficit after the first quarter, rebounding in the second quarter 18-12 and turned up the defense in the second half, holding the Magicians to 19 points. By halftime, the Panthers had cut the LeMoyne-Owen lead to one, at 31-30. Aniquah Swan led the Panthers with eight points, Gracie Doane hit two triples for her six points and Julie McCarthy had six rebounds and four blocks. The second half was all Panthers, led by Shequana Harris , who had just four points in the first half and finished the game with 17. She was an impressive 5-for-5 from the field in the second half and 7-of-11 overall. Doane started that second half, draining a three, to put her squad up 33-31 and they never looked back, reeling of...