MELBOURNE, Fla.- The Lynn women's basketball team dropped a 68-65 decision in a conference matchup at Florida Tech on Wednesday night in the first road game of 2025. Lynn fell to 8-6 on the season with a 2-5 record in Sunshine State Conference play while Florida Tech improved to 5-8 overall and 2-5 in league play.
 
Graduate student Danielle Montelbano led the way for the Fighting Knights on offense with 17 points while graduate student Jess Knight recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore Trinity Mocadlo also racked up 11 points in the contest.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Fighting Knights opened the first half on a quick score within the first 20 seconds of play as Danielle Montelbano found the basket on a layup to open scoring for Lynn, 2-0 with 9:41 left to play in the first quarter. However, the Panthers answered back with a 5-0 run to take a narrow 5-2 lead with 7:18 remaining in the frame. With the Blue and White trailing, Trinity Mocadlo sank a mid-range jumper and senior Makayla Hemingway dropped in a layup to snatch back the lead for Lynn near the half-way point of the quarter at 6-5 with 5:38 left in the frame.
 
Florida Tech took back the lead on a 4-2 run, going up by one at 9-8 before a layup from Mocadlo put Lynn back in front with 2:47 left in the quarter. Florida Tech's Mikayla Morin quickly dropped in a layup of her own to take the narrow lead for the Panthers 11-10 at the 1:52 mark. With the quarter winding down, Hemingway closed out the scoring in the first with the first three-pointer of the contest to give Lynn a two-point lead heading into the second quarter, 13-11.
 
The defensive prowess of both teams was featured heavily in the opening minutes of the second quarter with graduate student Jess Knight breaking the offensive stalemate at the 7:40 mark with a layup to boost Lynn's lead to four, 15-11. The Panthers did not stay down for long, going on a 6-0 run to jump ahead by two, 17-15 with 6:05 left to play in the half. With Lynn trailing for the first time in the second, Mocadlo and Montelbano combined for four points on free-throws to jump ahead once again at 19-17 with 4:19 remaining in the quarter.
 
Florida Tech looked to have an answer for nearly everything Lynn threw at it in the first half as the Panthers tied up the game at 19-19 on a jumper. Knight battled in the paint for a layup to put the Fighting Knights back up by two at 21-19 before FIT responded with a layup of its own to knot things up again at 21-21 with 2:42 remaining. Florida Tech went on to break the tie on a big three-pointer to go up 24-21 with just over two-minutes remaining. The Fighting Knights and Panthers battled back-and-forth at the end of the half, trading last second free-throws as Florida Tech claimed the two point lead by the half-time buzzer, 28-26.
 
First Half: Florida Tech 28, Lynn 26
 
Florida Tech built onto its lead at the start of the second half as FIT's Tai Roberts made a quick layup to go up by four, 30-26. The game went quiet offensively with Lynn scoring its first bucket of the second half at the 7:35 mark courtesy of graduate student Ella Fiore with a layup off the glass, 30-28. Mocadlo was fouled on a fastbreak which resulted in two-points at the charity stripe for the Fighting Knights, 30-30 with 6:56 left in the third. Fiore took the lead back for the Blue and White on a scoop layup, 32-30 just before Roberts tied things up again at 32-32 with 6:05 left in the quarter.
 
Florida Tech benefited on a steal and score to go up 34-32 before a pair of free-throws from Knight tied the contest at 34-34 with 3:44 to go in the frame. The Panthers took a 36-34 lead before Montelbano made a three-point play on a layup and free-throw shot to give Lynn the edge with 3:44 remaining in the third, 37-36. A layup from Knight propelled Lynn's lead to a three edge at 39-36 with 2:16 remaining. The Panthers stormed back into the game on a 4-0 run to retake the lead at 40-39 with just under a minute left. A quick trip to the charity stripe from Montelbano put Lynn back in front 41-40 before a last second layup gave Florida Tech the lead heading into the final quarter of play, 42-41.
 
The Panthers maintained their lead at the start of the fourth quarter, rallying for a 4-2 run that put Florida Tech up by three with 8:46 left in the contest. Knight cut into the lead with a free-throw but FIT ended up constructing the biggest lead of the game at six points following a 4-0 run, 50-44. Montelbano banked in a quick layup to stop the bleeding for the Fighting Knights at 50-46 with 7:22 left in the game. The Panthers dropped in a pair of free-throws before a big-time three from graduate student Channing Chappell cut the Florida Tech lead in half, 52-49 with 6:46 left to play.
 
Coming down the stretch, Florida Tech went on a 3-0 run to take a six point lead once again at 55-49 with 5:33 remaining. With the game coming down to the wire, the Fighting Knights managed to cut the lead back to five following a layup from Montelbano with 1:58 remaining before the Panthers built their lead back up to seven on a pull-up jumper from Roberts, 61-54. Late in the contest, Lynn made things interesting as Mocadlo sank a pull-up three with just 13 seconds left down three, 68-65. Despite a hard-fought effort from the Fighting Knights, Lynn came up just short by the final buzzer, 68-65.
 
Final: Florida Tech 68, Lynn 65
 
FIGHTING KNIGHTS STATS:

 
UP NEXT:
Lynn will now set its attention on Rollins, who is set to host the Fighting Knights on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. in Winter Park, Fla.