The Florida Tech women’s basketball team got back into Sunshine State Conference play on Wednesday and struggled much of the night, losing to Florida Southern 80-57 at the Clemente Center.

“They beat us everywhere,” said Panthers coach John Reynolds in his postgame interview with Jim Mitchell. “One team came in with the winning mentality tonight and one team was just going through the motions. Sorry to say I was the guy coaching the team going through the motions.”

DeLise Williams scored the Panthers first five points and led the team with 18 points. “The only one who came to play tonight was DeLise,” Reynolds said. “I don’t have to look at her stats and I don’t care, all I have to do is watch what she does on the floor.”

Gracie Doane had 12 points, hitting 3-of-7 shots from behind the arc and Tereza Sedlakova finished with 11 and six rebounds. The Panthers shot 35.3 percent from the field (18-of-51) and the Moccasins were 23-for-49, good for 46.9 percent. Camile Giardina led all scorers with 23 and Anja Fuchs-Robetin finished with 17. The Mocs had five scorers in double figures.

The Panthers (6-6, 3-3 SSC) led early 5-2 after a three by Williams but Fuchs-Robetin gave the visitors a 6-5 lead with 7:58 to go. FSC would end the quarter with a 5-0 run and lead 22-12.

Williams came out and hit a three to start the second quarter and she hit a jumper a short time later to cut the Mocs lead to 25-21 with 5:58 to go. That was as close as the Panthers would get as Florida Southern would end the quarter on a 14-2 run and go to the locker room with a 39-23 lead.

After Sedlakova hit a shot to start the third, the visitors answered with a three by Jirah Ards and they were off and running again, sparking a 9-0 run and led 51-25 with 6:16 to go in the quarter.

To the Panthers credit, they went on a 14-0 run, helped by four points by Doane and a three from Amanda Allen that made it 51-32 with 3:52 to go in the quarter. Williams then had a block and hit two free-throws, following that with a steal and a layup, cutting the lead to 51-39 with 2:01 to go.

The Mocs (9-3, 3-3 SSC) ended the quarter with a 9-2 run, expanding their lead to 60-41 with 10:00 left in the game. Doane was good from distance on a couple shots in the fourth and Abby White hit three free-throws, but the hole was just too big to dig out of.

For more info: Florida Southern @ Florida Tech Box Score

“We just gave up a home game in conference and I’m disappointed in our effort tonight,”  said Reynolds.

The Panthers will head to Barry on Saturday, with the tipoff scheduled for 2:00 p.m.