Fort Myers, Fla. ? The Stetson women's basketball team (2-13, 0-3 Atlantic Sun) let an early seven-point lead slip away and went on to suffer its fourth straight loss and 12th in its last 13 games, falling 65-44 Saturday evening at conference foe Florida Gulf Coast (6-7, 1-2 A-Sun). Junior guard Sharnesha Smith (Kingsland, Ga.) scored a season-high 18 points to pace the Hatters.
Down 10 points at halftime, the Hatters opened the second half on a 7-1 run in the first 90 seconds to come within 30-26, but the Eagles would soon stabilize and restore a nine-point advantage. Florida Gulf Coast used sharp three-point shooting, mostly by Chelsea Dermyer, to pull away from the Hatters the rest of the way.
Every Hatter other than Smith struggled to score as the rest of the team combined for just seven field goals the whole night. Smith made nine en route to her 18 points. Senior guard Kellie Olson (Tucson, Ariz.) scored eight points before fouling out late in the second half. Delia De La Torre led FGCU with 19 points while Dermyer added 13 points and seven assists.
Smith scored Stetson's first four points and Kellie Olson the next five as Stetson took a 9-6 lead into the first media timeout. Stetson led by as many as seven, maintaining a lead in a low-scoring game for the next eight minutes. The Hatters led 17-13 with seven and a half minutes left in the half as Smith's speed and penetration kept FGCU at bay.
Delia De La Torre's three-pointer cut the Hatter lead to 17-16 with just over five minutes left and she followed with a layup to put the Eagles ahead by one with four minutes remaining. Eventually the previously cold-shooting Eagles got hot on a pair of threes by Chelsea Dermyer and Jackie Thiel, the latter giving Florida Gulf Coast a 10-point lead as the Hatters would not threaten again before halftime. The Hatters went scoreless for nearly eight full minutes, from the 8:32 mark until 54 seconds remained in the period. Stetson did not shoot a free throw in the first half and went to the locker room trailing 29-19.
Smith scored 10 points in the first half for Stetson while De La Torre had 13 and Ashley Haegele added six.
The Hatters are back in action this Thursday, Jan. 16 when they host Savannah State at the Edmunds Center in the final non-conference action of the season. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. in the opening act of a doubleheader; the Stetson men's squad hosts A-Sun rival Kennesaw State 30 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game. These games can be seen LIVE on Hatter Vision!
