PAT LONGOBARDI — Sports Writer
As time ticked down when SCSU women’s basketball decided on the possible final shot for the second straight game, their shooting performance could have been washed away with one shot.
Senior guard Sylvonya Moore had the ball with under 30 seconds remaining, but she passed it out to Camille Fantini, who did not get a handle on it, forcing a turnover to Pace.
This led to Pace to a 46-42 vicotry in a Northeast-10 Conference game at Moore Field House.
The first half was very low scoring with both teams combining for 13 turnovers..
Pace (5-0, 4-0 NE-10) led the game from 4-3 and did not relinquish that throughout the game. They also opened up some lengthy leads that SCSU tried to contain for most of the game.
“To be a solid team, we need to control the defense and rebounding,” SCSU head coach Meghan Brown said. “We should have pulled the ball out and gone for the last shot. Sylvonya needs to take better care of the ball. She knows that she needs to make better decisions.”
Pace went on to score 13 of 15 points to take their biggest lead of the half, 16-6, capped off when Allison Cleary made a layup with 5:45 in the half.
The Owls (2-3, 2-2) would trail 20-12 going into halftime.
In the second half, Pace quickly extended the lead to 26-16 with a 6-0 run capped off when Brittany Shields made a layup.
Southern tried to find ways to get back into it but Pace kept extending the lead.
Pace took their biggest lead of the game, 37-25, when Margo Hackett made a layup with 10:24 to play, forcing a Southern timeout.
Moore said the team kept fighting but did have some trouble shooting in the game.
“We attacked them by driving the ball and drawing the fouls in the post and freeing up players,” she said. “We mostly picked up our energy and did’nt give up. ”
The Owls would eventually find a way to cut into the lead with under five minutes remaining.
With Pace leading 44-38, SCSU made it 44-42 after consecutive layups by Fantini and Moore with 56 seconds to play.
On the next possession, Keisha Primo stole the ball from Cleary and gave the Owls enough time to possibly hold on for the final shot.
Following the Owls turnover, Carol Johnson hit two free-throws, but they still had 23 seconds to work. Southern could not get the ball in the hoop, ending the game.
Pace edged SCSU 40-38 on the rebounds with 27 on defense. Both teams did their scoring from the inside ending with a combined 1-for-21 on three-pointers.
SCSU has lost two of three games and lost their first home game of the year (2-1). They are also 16-13 all-time against Pace.
The Owls also took a hit in the game that played a role when Moni-Smith Ocran came out early in the first half and only played 19 minutes due to foul trouble.
“(Smith-Ocran) played a big role,” Moore said. “They were not shooting well. She is one of our strongest rebounders not in the game.”
Senior forward Maral Javadifar led Pace with 13 points in 30 minutes of play. Forward Brittany Shields also had 12 points and five rebounds. Guard Kerri White had five points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Moore led Southern with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting with seven rebounds in 25 minutes. Fantini also had 10 points, six rebounds and five steals.
