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Saint Leo Notebook: Men's, Women's Hoops Start Slow In SSC

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By BART O’CONNELL

Tribune correspondent

Published: January 10, 2009

SAINT LEO - The Saint Leo men's and women's basketball teams are facing an early uphill climb if they want to be seeded well in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament.

The men (7-8, 1-2 SSC) dropped a pair of SSC home games in the past week, 79-76 to Florida Southern and 93-83 to Rollins, entering a pair of road contests at Florida Tech this afternoon, and at Tampa next Wednesday.

The women (7-5, 0-3) have lost all their conference matchups by at least eight points apiece, and have four consecutive losses overall in advance of today's game in Melbourne. Their next two conference opponents are a combined 21-4 this season.

In the 84-71 loss to Rollins on Jan. 3, the Lions women committed 35 personal fouls, leading to an astounding 50 made free throws by the Tars (12-0, 3-0). The foul fest negated strong scoring games by Dominique Daniels (16 points, eight rebounds) and Lauren Lee (14 points), though Lee was one of two SLU players to foul out.

Last Wednesday the Lions fell 83-75 to Florida Southern despite making one more field goal and grabbing more rebounds than the Mocs (10-2, 2-1). Marquita Fenn had 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the Lions, but FSC out-shot SLU from 3-point range and had a 15-10 edge in free throws made.

As for the men, they were unable to capitalize on a 1-point, overtime win at Barry to open the SSC schedule on Dec. 31. Against Rollins, all five starters for both teams scored in double figures in an evenly played game, but Saint Leo made three fewer shots than Rollins from behind the 3-point line and the charity stripe, proving to be the difference in the game. Forward Jordan Prais was honored before the game for eclipsing the 1,000-point plateau.

Against Florida Southern, Saint Leo pulled within one with 1:42 remaining on a Prais 3-pointer, but failed to score again after that, taking only one shot and one free throw attempt in the final 1:41. The Mocs out-rebounded SLU 5-1 during that stretch, including three offensive boards.

Guard Quentin Cullop led SLU in scoring against both opponents, with 20 and 23 points, respectively, against Rollins and Florida Southern.

SOFTBALL SCHEDULE RELEASED: Saint Leo's 2009 softball schedule will include road trips to San Antonio, Tx. and Florence, S.C. in addition to at least 24 home games and the remainder of the early season and SSC schedule.

The Lions, which finished 19th in Division II last season, will face Angelo State, the No. 17 team last year, during their trip to San Antonio. They will face College World Series participant Francis Marion, the hosts of the tournament in Florence. The schedule also includes games against Gulf South Conference powers North Alabama and Alabama-Huntsville.

ACADEMIC HONORS: Women's soccer players Hannah Beard and Lauren Hudson were two of the 75 players selected to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Adidas Scholar All-America First Team this week.

Correspondent Bart O'Connell can be reached at tampasport@gmail.com.

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