Feb. 25, 2008
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The West Florida Senior class played their last home game as Argonauts, and led for nearly 38 minutes of the game, only to see the lead disappear. Then with a chance to tie the game, the Argos had two shots inside the final five seconds, both go awry, and West Alabama escaped with a 73-71 win. Senior Sam Schlaegel turned in a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The defense of UWF looked sharper than a two-edged sword, as they came out and held UWA to only 34 percent shooting, while they were able to make 47 percent of their shots. Senior Karmeshia "Red" Easley led the defensive attack and didn't let her opponent even breathe when she got the ball. Tara Russ and Renee Polk had four rebounds each, while Samantha Schlaegel had three rebounds in the first half. The Argos stole the ball from UWA nine times in the first half, and Tiffany Scott, Dominique Boykins and Schlaegel all had two steals in the first half.
Tara Russ led UWF at the half with eight points, while Scott and Polk weren't far behind with six points each. Chelsea Patterson led the team with three assists, and hit a deep-WNBA-three pointer from the top of the key to be a part of the great 40 percent three point shooting UWF displayed in the first half. West Florida went into halftime with a 38-30 lead.
About midway thru the second half, the Argos shooting began to cool off, as they only shot 32 percent from the field, while UWA stepped their percentage up to 47 percent during the second half. The Tigers shot an amazing 89 percent from the charity stripe, and made 8-9 free throws in the final half. UWA also hit 56 percent of their three point shots, and UWF shot 25 percent from the three point line, only making three of the total 12 three pointers they attempted in the second half. Despite the shooting percentages, the Argos still had a great chance to close the home season with a win.
With six minutes left to play, Schlaegel hit a tough shot, was fouled, and made her free throw, to stop a little West Alabama momentum, however, the hot shooting Tigers continued to close the gap, and pulled within two points. Patterson then hit another tough runner to put the Argos back up by four with just over three minutes to play. A couple of three pointers for West Alabama, and the Tigers led by three points. Schlaegel then hit two huge free throws to put UWF only behind by one point, and after a crucial pass from "Red" Easley made it through the UWA defense, the Argos couldn't put the ball in the hole after two close range tries, and ended up letting the victory slip through their finger tips in the last seconds.
The Argonauts have had several close games this season, and they just haven't bounced the right way in the final minutes. However, the outstanding effort, made for an exciting home finale. Tiffany Scott poured in 11 points, and had five steals, while Karmeshia Easley added seven points, and seven rebounds, to go with three assists. Tara Russ scored 10 points, with eight rebounds, and two blocks. Laura Davis chipped in with five points and two assists. Meanwhile, Dominique Boykins scored 11 points off the bench for West Florida.
The final game of the season for the Argos, will be Saturday at Valdosta State. West Florida dropped to 9-18 on the season, while the Tigers improved to 12-14 on the year.
