BOCA RATON, Fla. – A better script could not have been written for Lynn University's women's basketball senior day as the quartet combined for 57 of the team's points in a dominating 89-76 victory, which helped the Fighting Knights inch closer to a Sunshine State Conference regular season title. Senior Kira Harvey continued her push for Player of the Year recognition with a 26-point effort while fellow senior Tashina Bailey notched her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Blue & White improve to 17-7 overall and 10-4 in the SSC, setting a new school record for league victories by surpassing the 9-7 mark from 2006-07. Lynn has won three straight and six of its last seven to maintain its lead in the conference, and after never winning a season series against the Panthers, LU has now won all four regular season meetings the past two years.
Florida Tech (16-7, 8-5) led only 37-33 at the break despite shooting 55.2 percent from the field and holding Lynn to 39.4 percent shooting. The Panthers could not pull away due to poor shooting at the line, where they hit only 42.9 percent in the first half and 57.1 percent overall.
Coming out of the locker room it was all Lynn. A 7-2 run, highlighted by a jumper in the paint from Bailey, a three from Karolina Bazua and another basket from Amanda Schultz, gave LU a 40-39 advantage. Bazua hit three shots from downtown on four attempts for nine points while Schultz was 4-of-7 from the field for a season-best 12 points.
Lynn and Florida Tech battled back and forth, with neither team able to go ahead by more than three points. It wasn't until Charla Nelson-James converted on a layup in traffic that the Fighting Knights were able to pull away. Her basket keyed an 11-2 run with Schultz making it 65-54 with a trey from the top of the arc.
Florida Tech began to put high pressure on Lynn's ball handlers but LU escaped the press and Harvey made them pay with three three-pointers over the final 3:55 to put the dagger into the Panthers. Her last three answered a trey from Rita Acevedo and put Lynn on top 89-69 with under a minute remaining.
Not to be overlooked was the play of Shatorria Baker. The freshman guard set a career-high with nine assists coming off the bench.
The Fighting Knights shot a blistering 60.6 percent in the second half tofinish 50 percent from the game while also going 11-of-24 (45.8%) from downtown and 12-of-14 (85.7%) at the free throw line.
Lynn returns to the court on Saturday, February 23, at 2 p.m. when it travels to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to battle Nova Southeastern. A victory over the Sharks would guarantee at least a share of the SSC regular season title. Fans can follow all of the action live at LynnFightingKnights.com and receive in-game updates by following @LUKnights on Twitter and Instagram.
