Samantha Serrano (Photo by Bill Parmeter)
Posted: Nov 15, 2024
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers opened their 2024-2025 home schedule Friday night in Suncoast Credit Union Arena, getting out to a hot start and holding on late for a 77-68 win over the visiting Western Wyoming Mustangs to improve to 2-1 on the year.
The Bucs couldn't have scripted much of a better start Friday night, jumping out to an 8-0 lead just 1:19 in before Sarah Owona drilled her second straight three to make it 11-3 at the 8:00 mark of the first. Elina Briede came in off the FSW bench and provided an immediate spark, scoring seven straight for the Bucs, taking it from a six point game to a 13 point game at 24-11 in the blink of an eye. An old fashioned three point play from Ivy Brown, followed by a more traditional triple from Georgi Buzzetti capped a thrilling first quarter of action for the Bucs as FSW led Western Wyoming 30-20 at the end of one.
It was more of the same for FSW as the second quarter got underway as Samantha Serrano popped a quick three to up the Bucs lead to 13, but they went cold from there, going scoreless over the next three minutes as the Mustangs trimmed their lead down to just four at 33-29. A steal by Buzzetti and feed ahead to Asiana Britt for a tough finish cushioned the Bucs lead back to nine at 38-29 midway through the second and Owona found Delfina Cergneux for an easy two to make it a 15 point game. The Bucs got one last stop as Serrano picked off a pass and finished on the other end to cap the half as FSW took a 50-33 lead and all the momentum into the locker rooms at the break.
Serrano started the second half how she finished the first, with a steal and score to give FSW their largest lead of the game at 52-33. A tough offensive rebound and put back for Britt turned into a three point play to keep FSW up 60-43 with 3:39 to go in the third, but the Mustangs would not go away, scoring the final seven points of the quarter to trim the Bucs lead all the way down to seven at 63-56 as the teams went to the fourth.
Serrano continued her big night with a three on the Bucs first possession of the fourth to pad their lead back to double digits, but Western Wyoming's Aliyah Bantolina was a one woman wrecking crew for the Mustangs, scoring 13 straight points for her team to single handedly cut the Bucs lead all the way down to four at 66-62 with just over five minutes left to go. Brown found Buzzetti on a nice high-low to give the Bucs some breathing room, but Western Wyoming continued to fight, getting five quick points to make it a one possession game at 70-68 with 2:25 to go. The Bucs turned to their stars as crunch time set in as Serrano got a key finish at the rim to put FSW up six and Brown ripped down an offensive rebound and stuck it back in for a three point play to seal it for the Bucs as they dribbled out a 77-68 win to improve to 2-1 on the year.
Serrano led the Bucs with a career high 23 points on 9-14 shooting while Brown notched a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds on 8-12 from the field. FSW shot 42% from the field in the win, but got 11 more field goal attempts off thanks to 17 offensive rebounds on the night, including 8 from Brown.
FSW wins their second straight to improve to 2-1 on the year while Western Wyoming falls to 1-2
The Bucs will be back at it on Saturday when they take on #2 Northwest Florida State in a 3 PM tip off from Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers.
