ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.- Technically the #13 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers had the 2019 Suncoast Conference Championship wrapped up Wednesday night after a win over Eastern Florida State on the road, but Head Coach Kristie Ward wanted to make sure there was no sharing before she let the team in on the news. Saturday afternoon, the Bucs did just that, using a big second half to beat St. Petersburg 91-66, clinching their second straight outright Suncoast Conference title with two games still left to go in the conference season.
For the second straight games, things were interesting early on for the Bucs on the road. Getting off to a slow start, FSW actually found themselves trailing 17-16 after one quarter of play to a team that they had beaten by 44 the last time the two hooked up in St. Pete.
Offensively things didn't get much better for the Bucs in the second quarter, but their defense turned things up a notch, holding the Titans to just 11 points to take a four point, 32-28 lead into the break at half.
The Bucs came out of the locker room refreshed in the second half and quickly built their lead to eight as Nairimar Vargas-Reyes hit a three from the corner four minutes in. By the end of the period they had taken complete control of the game, leading the Titans 59-43.
The fourth quarter looked a little bit more like the Bucs that FSW fans have come to know and love as they got out on the break and got a layup from Za'Nautica Downs midway through to put them up 25 before cruising to a 32 point quarter in a 91-66 win.
Downs led the Bucs with 25 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter while Tina Stephens had 17 and Shekinah Guthrie 11.
The Bucs capture their second straight Suncoast Conference Championship with the victory, while winning their 21st game in a row dating back to mid-November. FSW is now 25-2 on the year and a perfect 7-0 in Suncoast Conference play with two conference games left on the slate. Having locked up the #1 seed in the Suncoast for the Region VIII Tournament, FSW now knows when their first postseason contest will be as they will take on the #2 seed from the Southern Conference, likely either Broward or Miami Dade, on Wednesday, March 6th in Ocala.
FSW is back in action on Wednesday when they take on Hillsborough in Suncoast Credit Union Arena in a 5:30 PM tip.