Posted: Jan 04, 2025
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #18 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers kicked off 2025 with a bang Saturday afternoon at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers, defeating the #23 Eastern Florida State Titans 79-75 in overtime in a key Citrus Conference matchup to begin the second round of league action.
It was a back and forth battle from the jump as Eastern Florida got out to an early 8-4 lead before a 7-0 run from FSW gave the Bucs an 11-8 lead midway through the first quarter. After the Titans retook the lead late in the first, a deep three from Samantha Serrano tied the score at 16 and a jumper from Ivy Brown gave FSW an 18-16 lead at the end of one.
Eastern tied the game on the first possession of the second and the teams took turns with the lead through the first five minutes of the period to a 26-26 draw. The Titans cushioned their lead to four with 4:48 to go in the half and remained in front the rest of the way, taking a 39-36 lead into the break at half.
The Bucs came out locked in on the defensive end in the second half, holding the Titans without a point for the first four minutes to erase Eastern's halftime lead and take a 42-39 of their own with 6:00 remaining in the quarter. From there FSW went ice cold, going scoreless over the next 3:18 as the Titans went on an 8-0 run to go back in front 47-42. A three point play from Brown got the Bucs back on track and Serrano did the same moments later to make it a one point game at 49-48 with 1:45 remaining in the quarter. The Bucs held Eastern scoreless for the final 2:43 of the period and a late bucket from Serrano capped a big quarter from her to give FSW a 50-49 lead at the end of 30 minutes of play.
Asiana Britt found Georgi Buzzetti for a jumper to cushion the Bucs lead to 55-51 early in the fourth and a purback from Sarah Owona with 5:02 to go kept FSW up by three at 59-56. Owona hit a big three to make it a four point game with 2:49 to go, but Eastern responded by scoring five straight to retake a 65-64 lead with 1:48 left on the clock. Two possessions later the Bucs got a big defensive stop with Buzzetti securing the rebound and getting fouled where she knocked down a pair of free throws to put FSW back in front 66-65. On the next trip down the floor Serrano came up with a huge blocked shot for the Bucs and Eastern Florida fouled Britt to stop the clock with 24 seconds left to go. Britt stepped to the line and with ice in her veins, drained both attempts to pad the lead to three at 68-65. Eastern scored with 11 seconds left to make it a one point game and the Bucs hit one of two from the free throw line after a foul on the inbounds to make it 69-67 FSW with 8 seconds left. As time ticked down and victory just seconds away for the Bucs, Eastern snuck in a layup with under a second to go, tying the game at 69 and sending the game to overtime.
The Bucs got the scoring started in the extra period on a run out by Brown and after an Eastern turnover Brown scored again on a dish from Britt to put FSW up four, 73-69 left with 3:47 remaining on the clock. Brown found the basket for the third straight possession to up the Bucs lead to six with under three minutes to go but the Titans worked their way back in with four straight to cut the Bucs lead to 75-73 with 72 ticks left. It remained a two point game into the final minute and Eastern had a chance to take the lead with a three, but it was off the mark and the Bucs cleared the glass with nine seconds to go and pushed the ball up the court and got a layup on the other end from Owona to put it in the books 79-75.
Serrano led the way with 25 for FSW while hauling in a career high 13 rebounds. Brown added 17 on 7-11 shooting while Owona also went 7-11 and finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Buzzetti scored 14 points and had 8 rebounds in 43 minutes of work on the inside.
The Bucs win their 10th straight to improve to 12-3 overall while remaining unbeaten at 7-0 in Citrus Conference action. Eastern Florida falls to 13-5 overall and 5-2 in league play, two games behind the Bucs in second place.
FSW will put their winning streak on the line next Saturday when they travel up I-75 to take on Hillsborough in Tampa in a 2 PM tip.