Women fall short in round two of conference play to St. Pete

Florida State College at Jacksonville BlueWave women's basketball program takes to the road to face the Titans of St. Petersburg College. This is the second meeting in conference play between the teams, the first match-up found FSCJ on the losing end 47-70.

Determined to avenge the previous loss, FSCJ came out defending after the SPC Titans won the tip. Sparking early the Titans hit two quick buckets and the BlueWave sent them to the free-throw giving. Finding their rhythm, FSCJ didn't remain scoreless for long. An assist from sophomore M'Kayla Patterson to freshman Kahliya Gaitor put FSCJ on the board with a corner three-pointer play. Battling back and forth with several lead changes, the Titans hit a last second three to end the tie and give SPC the 12-9 lead to end the first quarter.

With the possession in favor of the BlueWave to start the second quarter, M'Kayla Patterson dished out another assist this time to freshman guard Jacovya Major to put the momentum in favor of FSCJ. The Titans would quickly answer back with six points, but BlueWave guard Ameera Thomas would notch back-to-back buckets to close the gap. SPC would continue to attack the basket expanded the lead going into halftime ahead 30-19.

Halftime did not slow down St. Pete as a quick 6-0 run stunned the BlueWave. Freshman Avery Cannon launched a deep corner three to begin the BlueWave surge. Not backing down, SPC continued to push forward while FSCJ was unable to convert and had several forced turnovers. Maintaining the lead, the Titans 14-21 fourth quarter push widened the score to 33-51 to end the third quarter.

With one more quarter to narrow the margin, FSCJ worked to chip down the deficit. A series of defensive errors sent SPC to the free throw line late in the game. The Titans seeing the finish line continued to battle and FSCJ was not backing down. A solid 12-13 fourth quarter performance wasn't enough to despite the BlueWave effort. St. Petersburg pulled away to a solid 45-64 victory over Florida State College at Jacksonville.

M'Kayla Patterson led in scoring with 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Ameera Thomas and Jaiden Ross both added 10 points.