FORT MYERS, Fla.- It was a slow start for the #14 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers Wednesday night in their 2021 season opener against Hillsborough, but that should have been expected as the Bucs took the court for the first time in 316 days after the cancellation of their 2020 postseason and the two month postponement of their current campaign. The Bucs shook off the slow start though, picking things up in the second half to come away with a 70-52 win over the Hawks, giving new Head Coach Dr. Jerald Ellis win number one on the end of the FSW bench.
Nine newcomers made their FSW debut Wednesday night and it was those youngsters that got them going early on as Ronaltha Marc scored the Bucs first four points of the night and Macarena Retamales finished a three point play to give FSW a 9-6 lead midway through the first. Another newcomer, Patience Williams finished a strong move in the paint for a deuce to stretch the Bucs lead to five moments later, but Hillsborough got the last three of the quarter to make it a 14-12 game in favor of the Bucs after one.
The second quarter was an offensive struggle for both sides as FSW and Hillsborough played hot potato with the ball for a number of turnovers and found a lid on the basket when they did get shots up. The Bucs didn't get their second field goal of the period until the 3:45 mark when Sariana Rodriguez sparked them with back to back threes to turn a one point deficit into a five point lead as the half wound down. A late bucket from Tyshonne Tollie kept that lead for the Bucs into the break as they led the Hawks 26-21.
As expected, the halftime stat sheet wasn't a pretty one for either side as FSW shot just 29% from the field and 18% from three, but it was better than the 17% overall and 0-9 mark from three for Hillsborough.
A strong start to the second half was key for the Bucs as they came out and scored eight of the first nine to open up their first double digit lead of the night at 34-22. FSW was strong on the defensive end as well, holding the Hawks without a field goal for the first 4:32 of the half to hold a comfortable advantage. The Hawks found their footing and the Bucs went cold, as Hillsborough cut the FSW lead down to just five with 2:38 to go in the third. A strong move from FIU transfer Cheyanne Daniels got the Bucs back on track and another finish in the paint for the sophomore stretched the lead back to double digits. A late three from Hillsborough cut into the Bucs advantage but after three it was FSW with a comfortable 45-37 with 10:00 to go.
The Bucs kept their distance from the Hawks most of the way in the fourth, keeping their eight point lead four minutes in and pushing it to nine with 3:49 to go. In the end it was just too much Purple and Aqua as the Bucs scored the final 10 points of the ballgame, blowing things open to 70-52 at the final horn.
After a cold shooting second half, the Bucs figured things out in the second, shooting 56% from the floor and an even 50% from the three point line to finish at 42% and 31% respectively. Hillsborough on the other hand had a night to forget shooting the ball, hitting on just 25% of their shots overall and 17% from downtown. Sheslanie Laureano shook off an early injury to put together a solid 15 point, 8 rebound effort while leading the team with a +19 plus/minus rating. Fellow countrywoman Sariana Rodriguez came off the Bucs bench to pitch in 12 and 6 boards in 17 minutes of action. Williams was solid in her FSW debut, scoring 8 points on 4 of 5 shooting while hauling in a team best 10 rebounds.
The Bucs win their opener for the second straight season to start the year 1-0 while former Suncoast Conference rival Hillsborough drops to 0-1. FSW will be back in action this weekend as they head to Alabama Friday to take on #21 Wallace State before heading back South to battle #5 Chipola on Saturday in Marianna.