Jan. 5, 2008
PENSACOLA, Fla. - Coming off of a hard fought loss to the 10th ranked team in the nation, West Florida brought the same energy to their home game on Saturday against Palm Beach Atlantic as they rolled to a 74-58 victory. Samantha Schlaegel picked up a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, including five offensive rebounds. Chelsea Patterson led all scorers with 17 points in just 18 minutes. West Florida brought a swarming defense, and picked up 39 points off of 33 Sailfish turnovers during the game.
Freshman Chelsea Patterson has now scored 45 points in the past two games. "I wanted to play hard and with intensity every minute that I was on the court. I try to make the most of every minute, and help my team get the momentum," explained Patterson. Meanwhile, senior Sam Schlaegel recorded her third double double this season. "The coaches challenged me at practice to be more aggressive, and I wanted to continue that attitude from practice to the game," said Schlaegel. "It's time to get ready for a new year and new part of the season, as we enter conference play."
Head Coach Shannan Bergen was happy to get a win as the Argos get ready for conference play. "We played hard and very aggressive. I was impressed with the play of Chelsea Turgeon on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Sam (Schlaegel) played really hard and earned a double-double. It's a great win for us as we roll into conference." Bergen also added, "we were outrebounded 43-42, we haven't been a good rebounding team, and if we can keep it close, that is always to our advantage."
Through the first five minutes of the game both teams were a bit sluggish. The Sailfish jumped out to an early five point lead on 75 percent shooting. The Argonauts kept the game close as they created six early turnovers; however they were unable to capitalize on the early Palm Beach errors as they picked up only two points on the turnovers in the first seven minutes.
With 11 minutes left in the first half a three-point basket from Laura Davis gave West Florida their first lead of the game at 14-12, capping off two different comebacks from at least four points down. Following the three pointer by Davis the Argonauts would go on a 16-3 run over the next seven minutes giving them a 15 point lead at 30-15, with four minutes left to play in the half. Despite being outscored by six points in the final minutes of the half, the Argonauts would take a 34-25 lead into the break.
Karmeshia Easley and Chelsea Patterson each had a team high six points at halftime, and as a team West Florida caused Palm Beach Atlantic to turn the ball over 19 times, five of those coming on Tiffany Scott steals. Even with twice as many first half shots and a 38 percent shooting from the field, West Florida had only a nine point lead; however, the defense intensity in the second half would allow the Argos to push the lead to as much as 26 points late in the second half.
The Argos started the second half on fire, putting up 13 points in the first five minutes of the half, to take a 19 point lead. Over the next two minutes Palm Beach went on a scoring streak of their own as they cut the deficit back to nine points at 49-40 with 13 minutes remaining on the clock, however, the Argonauts responded with a 11-0 run capped off by two three-points baskets from Chelsea Turgeon, providing West Florida with a 24 point lead with 10 minutes left in the game. West Florida cruised through the final 10 minutes of the game keeping pace with Palm Beach Atlantic as they netted the 16 point victory.
Freshman Chelsea Turgeon had her best game as an Argonaut with a career high 10 points and seven rebounds. Tiffany Scott ended the contest with six steals and five assists. " The new defensive schemes that our coaches introduced to us in practice made a difference, and I just wanted to be more aggressive on defense," said Scott in reference to her six steals.
Senior Tara Russ stepped up the defense, as she had four blocked shots and three steals, to go with her six points. Karmeshia Easley came off the bench to provide eight points and five assists. Point Guard Amy Drake also chipped in with five assists. West Florida had 21 steals and 25 assists as a team. Haley Adcock led the Sailfish with 15 points, while Brooke Burgess grabbed a game high 13 rebounds.
The Argonauts, now 7-8, will return to action next Saturday when they begin Gulf South Conference play with a home game against North Alabama. Tip off at the UWF Fieldhouse is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. All conference games will be broadcast live on Stretch Internet. Look for the Stretch Internet Link on the right side of the UWF Athletics home page.
