FORT MYERS, Fla.- Playing in the first Southern Conference game of her collegiate career, Florida SouthWestern freshman Jayla Murray put her team on her back Saturday afternoon in Suncoast Credit Union Arena, scoring a career high 26 points to lead the #23 Buccaneers over the visiting Hillsborough Hawks 83-65 to kick off league play for FSW.  

 

The Bucs came out amped up in front of their home crowd, scoring the first nine points of the game to jump out to a 9-0 lead on the Hawks.  Moments later a driving layup from Jayla Murray followed by a steal and score from the freshman pushed the lead to 13-2 midway through the first .  Murray wasn't done there, popping a pair of threes in the final three minutes of the quarter, giving her 11 points and the Bucs a 25-15 lead at the end of one period of action.  

 

Hillsborough got the first two points of the second, but an old fashioned three point play from Tyshonne Tollie and another triple from Murray quickly stretched the Bucs lead back to 31-17 with 8:00 to go in the half.  A pair of threes from the Hawks kept Hillsborough connected, but they couldn't stop the Bucs on the other end of the floor as Natalia Tondi found Murray open under the hoop for an easy two and then picked off a pass and scored herself to cushion the lead back to 16 at 42-26 midway through the quarter.  Aaliyah Williams scored six straight for FSW to up the Bucs lead to 20 for the first time at 53-33 and they went to the locker room at the half in control, leading 55-37.  

 

The Bucs were 11-17 shooting in the second quarter to finish the half shooting 57% from the field.  Murray led the way with 22 first half points and connected on 8 of 9 field goal attempts in the first 20 minutes of action.  

 

The pace slowed and the water muddied some as the second half got under way but Teniola Kuyinu's jumper midway through the third quarter pushed the Bucs lead back over 20 at 67-46.  A nifty drive and score from Macarena Retamales put an exclamation point on the third for the Bucs, giving FSW a comfortable 72-51 lead after three quarters of play.  

 

Five quick points from Sariana Rodriguez to begin the fourth gave the Bucs their largest lead of the game at 76-51 and they put it in cruise control from there, riding out an 83-65 win to pick up their first conference win of the 2022 season.  

 

Murray finished with 26 points and 8 rebounds, the most points by any Buc in a game this season.  Tollie put together her second straight strong effort on the offensive end, scoring 14 on 6-10 shooting while adding 6 rebounds and 4 steals in the win.  Retamales filled up the stat sheet as usual with 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists while posting a team best +22 in the +/- category.  

 

FSW improves to 12-3 overall and starts defense of their Southern Conference crown with a win in their conference opener.  Hillsborough drops their third straight to fall to 6-10 overall and 0-2 in Southern Conference play. 

 

The Bucs are back in action Wednesday in a big early conference matchup on the road at Indian River in a meeting of the top two teams in the Southern Conference from a season ago.