Jan. 2, 2008
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The West Florida women's basketball team gave the defending National Champions all they could handle. With the score at 67-66 with less than one minute to play, the Owls of Southern Connecticut State scored the final five points to seal the win. West Florida had closed to within 67-66 on a driving layup by Amy Drake with 54 seconds remaining; however, the ball wouldn't bounce the Argos way down the stretch, as the Owls scored two free throws after an offensive rebound, and the next Argonaut shot rolled around the rim and out.
Head Coach Shannan Bergen was proud of her teams' performance. "We had a couple chances in the final two minutes and couldn't convert, but I was extremely proud to coach this team today. We competed well and played very hard against a top 10 team. Even though I am never happy after a loss, it was fun to coach today, because every player I had on the court, gave me great effort. Hopefully we can build on this for the remainder of the season."
The Argonauts jumped out of the gate to an 8-4 lead, following a three pointer by Laura Davis. The first half would go back and forth, with the Owls taking their biggest first half lead at 25-19. West Florida climbed back to take the lead 29-28 on two free throws from Amy Drake; however, Southern Connecticut State scored the final four points of the half to go into intermission with a three point lead. Tara Russ led the Argos with 10 first half points, while Kate Lynch matched that for the Owls.
The Argos started the second half by scoring the first four points, and over the next several minutes the lead would go back and forth. Southern Connecticut State would outscore the Argos 11-1 over a five minute span to take a 57-46 lead with 8:40 to play. West Florida would climb back into the game and tie the score on a driving lay-up by Chelsea Patterson with 3:23 to play. Lexi Allen scored the next five points for the Owls to put them up 67-62. Patterson Would then score on a runner to close the Argos to within 67-64.
West Florida drops to 6-8 on the season, while the 10th ranked Owls improved to 10-3 on the year. Freshman Chelsea Patterson led all scorers with a season high 28 points. Meanwhile Senior Tara Russ provided 14 points on seven for ten shooting from the field. Sophomore Amy Drake chipped in with nine points, while Samantha Schlaegel had eight rebounds and two steals. Russ also had four blocked shots as she defended the Owls top scorer Kate Lynch, and combined with Schlaegel to hold Lynch under her season scoring average.
The Argos play again at home this Saturday in a 12:30 tip off at the UWF Fieldhouse against Palm Beach Atlantic. The first conference game will be the following Saturday at home, and will be broadcast on stretch internet.
