TAMPA, Fla.- Za'Nautica Downs became just the second player in Florida SouthWestern State Women's Basketball history to reach the 1,000 career point mark on Wednesday, scoring a team high 16 as the Buccaneers blew past Hillsborough 89-51 to remain unbeaten in Suncoast Conference play. 

 

As they did last time they took on the Hawks in Tampa, the 12th ranked Bucs came out on fire, taking a 10-2 lead on a pair of Za'Nautica Downs free throws and extending their advantage to 19 at the end of the first quarter at 25-6.  

 

An early second quarter bucket from Sheslanie Laureano pushed the FSW lead over 20 and a steal and score midway through the period by Nairimar Vargas-Reyes cushioned their lead to 35-12.  Hillsborough hit a pair of threes to get it back to a 16 point game, but the Bucs scored the final six of the half to make it 43-21 after 20 minutes of action.  

 

The highlight of the third quarter came with 3:50 to go when Downs popped a deep three in front of the FSW bench, giving her 14 points in the game and 1,002 points in her Buccaneer career, making her just the second player in program history to top the century mark.  The shot started a 12-0 run for FSW to close the third quarter, ballooning their lead to 65-33 after three.  

 

FSW continued to get anything they wanted on the court in the fourth quarter, eventually opening up their lead to as many as 42 at 80-38 midway through the final period.  They threw things in cruise control from there, eventually finishing off an 89-51 victory to remain untouched in conference play.  

 

Downs' finished with a team high 16 in just 22 minutes of action in the win.  Laureano and Vargas-Reyes each had 12 while Simone Lett also reached double digits in scoring with 10.  

 

While the Bucs put up 89 points on the offensive end, their defense was the story, holding the Hawks to just 23% shooting on the night and forcing 10 more turnovers (22) than field goals allowed (12) in the victory.  

 

FSW wins their 11th straight to improve to 23-5 overall and 8-0 in Suncoast Conference play with the win while Hillsborough falls to 9-18 overall and 1-6 in league action.  

 

The Bucs have a week off before the next action when they host Impact Academy on Sophomore Night in Suncoast Credit Union Arena.  The Bucs and Impact will tip off at 5:30 PM on February 19th with the recognition of FSW's five sophomores happening during a pregame ceremony.