LAKELAND, Fla. (February 6, 2010) – Amber Heistan poured in a career-high 19 points to lead Rollins, but Florida Southern proved to be too much as the Tars fell to the Mocs 76-71, Saturday.

Rollins drops to 15-6 overall and 7-3 in Sunshine State Conference play while FSC improves to 17-5, 7-4 SSC.

Heistan was 5-of-7 from 3-point range in her career night, while also tallying four assists. The Lima, Ohio native’s previous best was 14 points against Clayton State in the first game of 2010. Kristina Mingos netted 12 points for the Tars while Tera McDaniel and Brittainy Daiger each added nine with Daiger racking up seven rebounds.

Michaela Hawley and Megan Dzikas led Florida Southern with 20 points each with Hawley also pulling down 10 rebounds. Chelsea Johnson also earned a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Rollins (27-66) and FSC (26-63) each shot 41 percent in the game with the Tars hitting seven 3-pointers to just two from the Mocs. The Tars also forced 21 turnovers while committing 16, but were roughed up on the boards, getting outrebounded 48-33.

Rollins landed the first few punches of the heavyweight bout, opening up a seven point, 16-9 lead over the first seven minutes of play. The Mocs countered with a quick 10-2 run over the next three minutes and took a 19-18 lead halfway through the frame.

The Tars would hold a 23-19 lead with just under eight minutes to play in the half, but Florida Southern outscored Rollins 22-7 the rest of the way to take a 41-30 lead at intermission.

The Mocs stayed hot from the outside to begin the second half and extended the lead to as much as 14 after the first five minutes of the frame. A Heistan 3-pointer at the 14:48 mark sparked a 14-3 Tars run, supported by two more Heistan 3-pointers, to get Rollins to within three, 52-49 with 10 minutes to play.

Southern extended the lead to nine, but Rollins fought back and used a Daiger trey in the final two minutes to cut the lead to three with 1:27 to play. A conventional 3-point play by Hawley in the Mocs next trip down the floor made the Tars deficit six, but Kourtnie Berry was good from long range with 33 seconds to play and again made it a three point game. Rollins was whistled for a foul on the ensuing possession and Dzikas connected on both from the line to seal the Mocs victory.

Rollins will continue their run through Sunshine State Conference play on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at Barry. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m. Fans can catch all the action live on the Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com and locally on 91.5 FM, WPRK.