Posted: Mar 26, 2025
CASPER, Wyo.- The #12 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers held the Itawamba Lady Indians to just 36 points in a 61-36 win at the NJCAA National Tournament in Casper, Wyoming Wednesday afternoon. It is the Bucs first win at the National Tournament since the 2019 season and pushes FSW on to the Sweet 16 where they will take on #3 New Mexico Friday.
Playing in their first National Tournament game in six seasons, the Bucs won the opening tip and immediately turned the ball over, to which FSW Head Coach Jamie Fisher laughed and exclaimed to his team "that's ok, we wanted to start on defense anyways." While obviously a lighthearted poke at his team to take some of the nerves off, it turned out to be partly true as the Bucs dominated on the defensive end of the floor all afternoon long.
FSW came out and scored the first seven points of the contest and held Itawamba without a field goal until nearly the midway mark of the first quarter as they got out to a 9-2 lead. Sarah Owona flew to the basket for a layup and Georgi Buzzetti found Ivy Brown for a layup on the inside in a perfectly execute high/low to make it 15-6 FSW late in the period before the Bucs finished the first on a 5-0 run to take a 21-10 lead at the end of 10 minutes of action.
A pair of buckets from Brown on the inside and four straight from Samantha Serrano midway through the second put FSW in front 31-14 with 5:09 to go in the half. The Bucs kept the Lady Indians at bay for the next five minutes, holding them to just four points while a late finish at the rim from Serrano gave FSW a commanding 38-18 lead into the locker rooms at the break.
The Bucs continued to push, extending their lead to 47-21 midway through the third as Brown found Asiana Britt on a backdoor cut for two. The Bucs bench took over from there for the rest of the quarter and Delfina Cergneux poured in the final five points of the period for FSW to put the Bucs up 52-27 as the teams went to the fourth.
Things got a bit sloppy for both sides in the fourth as the Bucs and Lady Indians combined for just five points over the first five minutes with FSW continuing to lead it big 54-30. Neither side ever got it going, but for the Bucs that was just fine as they nursed the big lead to the finish line, closing out a 61-36 win to advance to their second Sweet 16 in program history.
The Bucs held the Lady Indians to just 26% shooting and 36 points in the contest, both season bests, while also finishing with a +13 advantage on the boards. Serrano led the Bucs with 16 points and 7 rebounds while Brown posted a double-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. Britt added 14 for the Purple and Aqua and Owona just missed a double-double of her own with 9 points and 10 boards.
FSW wins their second National Tournament game in program history to improve to 25-5 on the year while Itawamba sees their season come to an end at 25-6.
The Bucs advance to the Sweet 16 where they will take on #3 New Mexico Friday at 4:30 PM (ET) with a trip to the quarterfinals on the line.
Fans can either head over to Buckett's to cheer on the Bucs with other fans at their Official Watch Party Friday or catch the game on ESPN+ where the National Tournament will be streamed exclusively throughout the week.
