MELBOURNE, Fla.- The #9 Florida SouthWestern State Women's Basketball team had a pair of streaks snapped on Saturday as they lost their first Suncoast Conference game in 715 days and saw their 12 game winning streak this season come to an end as they were stunned 81-69 by #22 Eastern Florida on the road to close out the 2020 regular season.
It was a tight game early on as the Bucs and Titans played to a 8-8 deadlock through the first five minutes of action. From there, things went south for FSW as Eastern Florida scored 14 of the next 16 points, opening up a 22-10 lead at the 3:00 mark of the quarter. It didn't get any better from there as Eastern continued to have their way on the offensive end of the floor and FSW couldn't find any rhythm as the Titans took a 29-12 lead after 10 minutes of play.
It didn't get any better for the Bucs in the second quarter as their deficit reached 20 and then as many as 26 later in the period. FSW scored the final four points of the half, but it was still all Eastern Florida at the break, 46-24.
The Bucs scored the first five points out of the break and looked like they might make a run, but Eastern answered with the next five to push it back to a 22 point game with 5:23 left in the quarter. Ta'Shonna Wright-Gaskins gave FSW a spark off the bench, helping whittle seven off the Titan lead, making it a 61-46 game after three.
FSW continued to work their way back into the game, cutting the Titan lead to a dozen with 8:05 to go, but Eastern got an easy lay in on their next possession and went on to score the next eight points to open it back up to a 20 point game at 71-51 with 4:31 to go. The Bucs made one last push and got back to within 10 inside the final minute, but it was too little, too late as Eastern stormed the court at the final horn with an 81-69 victory.
FSW shot just 34% in the contest and hit on just 1 of 15 from three point land in the loss. Sheslanie Laureano and Za'Nautica Downs each had 14 points for the Bucs while Wright-Gaskins had 13 off the FSW bench.
The Bucs close the regular season at 24-6 and finish Suncoast Conference play on top at 8-1. Eastern Florida improves to 23-6 overall and 7-2 in league play.
FSW will have some time to regroup before taking the floor again in Niceville on March 5th at the FCSAA State Tournament where they will take on either #5 Northwest Florida or #6 Gulf Coast in a quarterfinal matchup.