FORT PIERCE, Fla.- It was supposed to be a Top 25 showdown for the #19 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers and the #23 Indian River State Pioneers Saturday afternoon in Fort Pierce, but somebody forgot to tell the Bucs who fell behind 16-4 early and played catch up the rest of the way, eventually falling 61-53 for their second straight Southern Conference defeat.  

 

The Bucs got off to a rough start as Indian River jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and to make matters worse, FSW star Patience Williams picked up two fouls in the first 1:40 to quickly send her to the bench with foul trouble. Their deficit grew to 10-2 by the midway point of the first quarter and then 16-4 before A'Moni Waiters cashed in a three to beat the buzzer to make it 16-7 Pioneers after one. 

 

An old fashioned three point play from Teniola Kuyinu drew the Bucs back to within seven early in the second, but a 5-0 run for the Pioneers after that pushed it back to a 27-15 lead for Indian River at the midway point of the quarter.  FSW had trouble getting in rhythm offensively and couldn't trim the Pioneer advantage any further as Indian River added a late bucket to take a 35-21 lead into the break at half. 

 

The Bucs shot just 21% in the half, finishing the first 20 minutes going 8 for 38 from the field.  

 

The Bucs cameo out of the half and scored the first six points to quickly get back to within single digits at 35-27. They couldn't sustain the momentum though as back to back threes for the Pioneers pushed it back to a 14 point game in the blink of an eye. The teams played even for the next six minutes until a late bucket from Sheslanie Laureano got FSW to within a dozen at the end of three at 53-41.

 

It remained a 12 point game with just 4:52 remaining when the Bucs made their best push of the afternoon. Tashun Bryson scored on a second chance opportunity to start a 6-0 run for the Purple and Aqua to get them back to within six for the first time since the early stages of the contest.  A three from the corner from Tyshonne Tollie moments later made it a five point game with 3:25 to go, but the Bucs never scored again, missing their final five shots of the day while watching Indian River parade to the free throw line in the closing moments to seal a 61-53 victory.   

 

FSW shot 29% from the floor in the game and hit on just 2 of 18 from the three point land.  Laureano had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucs while Quadijah Moore provided FSW with a spark off the bench with 10 points and 6 rebounds. 

 

The Bucs fall to 6-3 overall and drop their second straight Southern Conference tilt to move to 3-2 in league play. Indian River takes over the top spot in the Southern Conference standings as they improve to 9-2 overall and 4-1 in league action. 

 

FSW is back in action at home on Wednesday when they play host to Miami Dade in a 5 PM tip from Suncoast Credit Union Arena.