Melbourne, Fla.- Lynn University's women's basketball team fell to Florida Tech (16-2, 6-2) 67-49, on the road on Wednesday night. The Fighting Knights fall to 7-10 overall and 1-7 after the first half of Sunshine State Conference play. Sharneka McCatty had a team-high 13 points while Charla Nelson-James recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Lynn got on the board first with a layup by Destiny Brown, but Florida Tech responded on a 10-4 run to lead 10-6 with 14:59 on the clock. FIT pulled ahead by ten, 16-6, but Lynn responded with six-straight points to trail 16-12 with 7:43 to go. The Fighting Knights kept the game within six throughout the final minutes of the half and trailed 26-22 at the break.

Kayk Wilson led the Panthers with 12 points in the half as the only player to score double figures. Lynn's offense was led by Zachara Bailey and Nelson-James who each had five points. Nelson-James had eight rebounds for Lynn while McCatty had six. Lynn shot 32.3 percent from the field and held Florida Tech's offense to 24.3 percent. The Blue & White edged FIT 28-24 in boards and had its bench contribute 12 points.

Florida Tech extended its lead to 12 with a trey by Jasmire Brown with 16:19 left in regulation. Lynn closed the gap to seven, 45-38, with 10:08 to go when Nelson-James made the second of two free throws. The Panthers led by 16, 57-41, with just under five minutes led and despite a late push by the Fighting Knights, FIT held off for its sixth SSC win of the season.

Lynn improved to shoot 34.8 percent from the floor in the second stanza but FIT shot an impressive 15-for-31 from the field to nearly double its field goal percentage from the second half to shoot 48.4 percent. The Panthers were led by Wilson once again who had 11 points in the final twenty minutes while Lynn's McCatty led the Fighting Knights with nine.

Overall the Blue & White shot 33.3 percent from the field while they were troubled at the charity stripe connecting on just 10-of-18 attempts. Isidora Madzarevic blocked three shots and pulled down a season-high eight boards in the loss and Bailey had eight points and three assists.

Lynn will begin the second half of league play on the road at No. 13 Rollins on Saturday, January 31. Tip-off is slated for 1:00 pm. Fans can follow the action live at LynnFightingKnights.com. Don't forget to 'Like' us on Facebook and follow @Lynn_Knights on Twitter and Instagram.