Posted: Dec 14, 2024
FORT MYERS, Fla.- It was slow going for the #20 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers early on Saturday afternoon in their Citrus Conference battle against the Santa Fe Saints, but they found their rhythm in the second half and stormed to the finish line for an 85-58 win to take over sole possession of first place in the conference standings four games in.
The Bucs got out to a quick start on the back of Asiana Britt who hit a pair of early threes to get FSW out to an early 11-2 lead on the Saints. A Samantha Serrano three upped the lead to 17-6 with 2:36 left in the first and the Bucs kept their distance from the Saints, taking a 19-10 lead after 10 minutes of action.
The Bucs got the first bucket of the second quarter to extend their lead to 21-10, but they went cold from there, going nearly five minutes without a field goal as Santa Fe slowly worked their way back into the game and trimmed the FSW lead to just one at 23-22 midway through the period. Santa Fe took their first lead of the game at the 3:29 mark, but Britt quickly answered with a lay in to put the Bucs back in front. Delfina Cergneux came in off the FSW bench and sparked the Bucs, scoring six quick points to extend their lead, but the Saints fought back to within striking distance, making it a two point game with a bucket before the break to make it 34-32 Bucs at the half.
The Bucs offensive struggles continued into the second half as they managed just one field goal over the first 5:09 of the third quarter as Santa Fe regained a 40-39 lead. The under 5:00 media timeout rejuvenated the Bucs as they came out like gangbusters after the stoppage with back to back threes from Serrano putting them back in front and another triple from the freshman later in the period giving FSW a 55-46 lead at the end of three.
A three from Sarah Owona early in the third stretched the Bucs lead out to 14 and they continued to push as a jumper from Georgi Buzzetti made it 67-48 and a steal and score from Serrano ballooned the lead to 69-48 with 6:36 to go. The Bucs took their largest lead of the game at 27 with under 2:00 to go and went on to win it by that margin, 85-58 at the final horn.
Four Bucs scored in double figures in the win, led by Serrano who put up 25 points and hauled in a career high 8 rebounds. Britt scored a career high 22 on 8-18 shooting while also picking off 7 steals for the Bucs. Cergneux dialed up her second double-double of the year with a career high 15 points and 10 rebounds and Owona just missed one of her own with 11 points and 9 boards.
FSW wins their seventh straight, their longest win streak since the start of the 2021-2022 season. The Bucs improve to 9-3 overall and take over sole possession of first place in the Citrus Conference standings at 4-0. Santa Fe falls a game under .500 at 6-7 overall while seeing their conference mark even up at 2-2.
The Bucs will play their final home game of 2024 on Monday when they host Miami Dade in a big early season conference matchup beginning at 5 PM at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers.
