Nov. 17, 2007
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The West Florida Women's basketball team stepped up the defense to shut down Ouachita Baptist 79-54. The Argos forced 25 Tiger turnovers, and converted many fast break lay-ups off of steals. Tara Russ (Sr. / Lake Park, Fla.) scored 21 points for the Argonauts, with eight rebounds and two steals. Russ was named to the all-tournament team, along with fellow Senior Karmeshia "Red" Easley (Mobile, Ala.), who played sensational defense to hold Ouachita Baptists' top scorer to only two points.
"I was extremely proud of how our team responded after a disappointing opening loss yesterday (Friday's loss to Florida Southern). The kids showed a lot of character and mental toughness, as an entire TEAM !" exclaimed Head Coach Shannan Bergen. "We saw a lot of good things today that we hope to build this season on. We dominated the tempo and took the opponents out of their game. We made it look easy against an above average team."
After a slow start, with both teams missing their first four shots, Dominique Boykins (So. / Houston, Tex.) put UWF on the board with two free throws. After a Ouachita Baptist basket, Amy Drake (So. / Niceville, Fla.) hit a jumper to put the Argos up 4-2 and they would never lose the lead after that. Moments later, Easley hit a three pointer to give West Florida a 19-9 lead. The Argos pressure defense helped build the lead to 38-22 at halftime. Freshman Chelsea Patterson (Largo, Fla.) had four steals and helped lead the fast break offense with seven assists.
The second half was more pressure defense, and the Argos increased the lead until Laura Davis (Sr. / Spanish Fort, Ala.) hit a three pointer to give West Florida a 30 point lead at 63-33. West Florida would play the entire bench, as 12 of the 13 Argonauts that suited up, scored in the contest. Ten players were able to play 10 minutes or more. West Florida is now 1-1 on the year, and will host Mobile on Tuesday at 5:30 pm.
Davis and Samantha Schlaegel (Sr. / Port Huron, Mich.) both scored nine points off the bench for West Florida, as the Argo bench outscored the Tigers bench 30-13. Boykins added 10 points, while starting point guard Tiffany Scott (Sr. / Port St. Lucie, Fla.) had seven assists and two steals. Meanwhile, Gabby Coleman led the Tigers with 16 points, and was also named to the all tournament team. In the other game today, West Georgia defeated Florida Southern 74-52. West Georgia's LaShandra McCoy was the tournament MVP.
