Nov. 27, 2007
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The West Florida Women's basketball team used some hot shooting to defeat Albany State 75-65 on Tuesday evening. The Argonauts shot 55% from the field, and connected on eight three point shots. Freshman Chelsea Patterson and Senior Samantha Schlaegel led the Argonauts with 18 points apiece. Point Guard Amy Drake dished out a season high 11 assists.
The Argonauts led 39-35 at the half, and after a three pointer from Schlaegel, the West Florida lead was 55-41, just six minutes into the second half. Then, West Florida held off the scrappy Golden Rams from Albany State down the stretch. Albany State's Nikia Trice led all scorers with 23 points, and she closed the Golden Rams to within six points with 2:38 to go. However, six straight free throws from Patterson, Schlaegel, and Drake helped to seal the win.
Head Coach Shannan Bergen said, "We really executed our game plan and stuck to it throughout both halves. We put some pressure on the guards, and it paid off for us. This was a good rebound game for us, after our two losses in Arkansas, during the Thanksgiving weekend."
West Florida started off shooting well, as Patterson and Drake hit three pointers on the first two UWF possessions. Karmeshia Easley followed it up with a lay-up, and the Argos were up 8-4, and they would never trail in the contest. Schlaegel, who missed the last game and last two practices, while attending a family funeral, came off the bench and hit three of five 3-point shots and five of six free throws. "Tonight I played for my cousin," stated Schlaegel, "and we played real well as a team, everyone contributed well tonight."
Senior Guard Renee Polk had her second straight solid performance off the bench for the Argonauts, with seven points and two rebounds. "I just try to help the team, whether it is offense or defense," said Polk, who usually comes in for defense, but has scored seven points in consecutive games now. "Our bench did a great job," said Bergen, "Laura (Davis), Tip (Tiffany Scott), Renee (Polk), and in particular, Sam Schlaegel. Sam had 18 points for us off the bench and she played great despite being off for four days. I think our whole bench had about thirty points (32) tonight."
The Argonaut offense was spread out nicely, as all nine players who played, scored at least two points. In addition, all nine had at least two rebounds and one assist. The leading rebounder was Tara Russ with five, while Davis, Patterson, and Drake each had four.
West Florida heads out on the road for the next five games. First up is Spring Hill this Thursday night in Mobile. "We hope to get our first road win of the season. We'll be ready and play hard, and we will look for contributions from the starters and bench again, when we get to Mobile," said coach Bergen.
With the win, the Argonauts improved to 3-3 on the season, and played against some full court press for the first time this year. Coach Bergen was pleased with the team's reaction to the press. "I thought we handled the Albany State full-court press well. Our point guards did a great job taking care of the ball. We didn't have any game film on Albany State, so we weren't sure what to expect with the full-court pressure."
Freshman Guard Chelsea Patterson is leading the Argonauts in scoring, and she was asked about her role as a scorer. "I just hit them with confidence...I go to the open spots and try to take a good shot. It is all about helping your teammates, and when I score, they get just as much of the credit," said Patterson.
