FORT MYERS, Fla.- Macarena Retamales and Aaliyah Williams combined for 43 points and Blessing King broke a program single game record with 21 rebounds as the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers raced past the Daytona State Falcons 73-53 Sunday night in Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers. 

 

The Bucs got off to a quick start, scoring the first five points of the game, before the Falcons put together a 10-2 run to grab a 10-7 lead with 3:07 to go in the first quarter. Six straight points from Kiana Wilson put the Bucs back in front and FSW carried a 17-10 lead into the break at the end of one. 

 

The second quarter was the Aaliyah Williams show for the Bucs as she scored eight straight for the Purple and Aqua to maintain the lead at 27-19 midway through the period. The Bucs went cold to close the half though as Daytona held FSW off the board for the final 3:21, cutting the Bucs lead to just three at the end of 20 minutes of action at 30-27. 

 

The Bucs missed their first four shots out of the break as Daytona trimmed the lead to one, but back to back threes from Macarena Retamales quickly cushioned the Bucs lead back to seven at 36-29 with 8:02 left in the third. An offense rebound and putback moments later from Blessing King put the Bucs up eight and Retamales scored on a drive to the hole to give them their first double digit lead of the night at 42-32 with 6:12 remaining in the period.  The Bucs continued to push, ultimately building their lead to 15 at the end of the quarter as they took a 51-36 lead into the fourth and final period. 

 

Midway through the fourth, the Bucs got not one, not two, but three shots off on one possession thanks to a pair of offensive rebounds from King and they made their third time a charm as Natalia Tondi nailed a three to put the Bucs up 21, 61-40 before the media timeout.  That was the end of the fight from the Falcons as they were never close again as the Bucs finished off a 73-53 win at the final horn. 

 

There were some big numbers on the final stat sheet for the Bucs as King set a new FSW single game record with 21 rebounds, including 14 on the offensive end while Retamales and Williams both topped the 20 point mark in the win. Tondi had her best game as a Buc as well, tying a career high with 16 points while also pulling down 7 rebounds and dishing out 6 assists for FSW. 

 

FSW sweeps the weekend to move to 8-5 on the year while Daytona drops to 4-7.  

 

The Bucs will play twice more before the break as they travel to Fort Pierce Friday and Saturday to take on Wayne County and Bishop State in the Indian River Classic.