"I really want to complement our team, we did an outstanding job defensively," said first season head coach Joan Bonvicini. "I don't know if it was because we put so much effort and expelled so much energy on defense, but we just had a real hard time finding the basket in the second half. We had plenty of opportunities, but struggled offensively in the second half. I do want to complement our team for the defensive effort, but we just need to get the ball into the hole."
In a tale of two halves, the Redhawks came out in the first half and kept pace with the hot firing Eagles. Despite trailing early, the SU defense held Florida Gulf Coast from having many strong concurrent offensive opportunities.
At 9:37 Ashley Brown (Kirkland, Wash.) took the Redhawks first lead of the game, 16-14, with a pair of made free throws. After a pair of missed possessions by both squads, FGCU took a one point advantage on a three, which they added a second to, twenty seconds later. Maggie McCarthy (Burlingame, Calif.) made it a one possession game again with an offensive rebound and a made lane jumper.
With less than eight minutes left in the first half, down 21-18, the Redhawks began pushing the pace too fast. They struggled to get their offensive bearings, but they were giving themselves second chance opportunities with a flurry of offensive boards. McCarthy made it a one point game again with a pair of charity stripe baskets with 5:58 left in the half.
Down 22-21 with 4:20 left in the first half, SU worked to prevent Florida Gulf Coast from getting shots off and were grabbing down all the defensive boards. McCarthy, who had a stellar first half, gave SU a 23-22 lead after grabbing down her second offensive board of the game.
The Redhawks went into halftime down 24-23, after battling the Eagles to the wire. They outshot FGCU 33.3 percent (6-for-18) to 30.8 percent (8-for-26) from the field, and were only outrebounded 17-16 by the Eagles. The game went to into intermission very even keeled, with fired up momentum driven SeattleU squad.
The second half got underway with the Eagles missing their first three possessions and the Redhawks took advantage of it behind baskets from McCarthy and Tatiana Heck (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.). Florida Gulf Coast finally got on the board with a three almost two-and-a-half minutes into the half. They then took the lead with a lane jumper, 29-27, from Eglah Griffin.
The Eagles garnered momentum and made it a 32-27 game four minutes into the half, following a pair of successful offensive possessions. During that time, SU began to struggle, turned the ball over and were not making crisp passes. Florida Gulf Coast seized momentum shift and took an eight point lead. Brown got SU back on track with her first three of the game off an Elle Kerfoot (Surrey, B.C.) pass, but it was FGCU's B. Brown who responded with a three from the top to maintain the Eagles eight point advantage.
The Redhawks made it a five point contest with a free throw from Kerfoot and a pair from Heck, as they continued to battle hard to chop down the Eagles lead. With 11:03 left in regulation, the red and white were getting solid offensive opportunities, but were unable to land their shots into the net. This began their offensive decline and Florida Gulf Coast's offense began to work harder to create a larger point differential.
Down 40-33, Kerfoot slammed in a three with less than 10 seconds left on the shot clock to bring it to a four point game; yet the Redhawks still could not halt FGCU. The Eagles continued to increase their lead, while keeping SeattleU's offense at bay. With just over five minutes left in the second half, Florida Gulf Coast took their first double-figure lead, 47-36, which they never relinquished.
Still working to come back, SU's defense kept playing extremely aggressive and smart, but on the offensive end shots were not landing. SeattleU could not dig themselves out of the double-digit lead Florida Gulf Coast held, as they only made two points in the final five minutes of play.
In the game, McCarthy led the Redhawks with 10 points and eight rebounds. She was a strong force both on offense and defense, and was two boards away from posting her first double-double of the season. Following was Kerfoot, who tallied eight points, three rebounds and three steals in 37 minutes of action. Heck had seven points and four defensive boards.
SeattleU shot 26.8 percent (11-for-41) from the field to FGCU's 35.4 percent (17-for-48). The Eagles outrebounded the Redhawks 39 to 27, allowing SU to only grab down 11 boards in the second half.
The Redhawks will conclude the 2009-10 season and the Longwood Tournament with the loser of the Longwood-North Carolina Central game. Game time is slated for 2 p.m.