The BlueWave women's basketball team of Florida State College of Jacksonville (FSCJ) faced Palm Beach State College (PBSC) in the final day of the Indian River Tip-Off Classic. Coming off their first win of the season the night before, the BlueWave were eager and ready to finish the Classic 2-0.
The first five minutes of opening play found both teams exchanging bucket for bucket until FSCJ broke open with a 9-2 run late in the quarter. Heading to the bench after the first ten minutes, the BlueWave found themselves up 20-15 over the Panthers of Palm Beach State. The second quarter saw similar results as FSCJ worked to keep PBSC at bay with another 20-14 performance to extend their lead . As the buzzer sounded to end the half, FSCJ found themselves up with a 40-29 led.
The second half found the BlueWave slowing down their tempo as the Panthers of Palm Beach State made a defensive adjustment coming out of the locker room. The Panthers full court press worked to create turnovers through deflections and time slipped away as the BlueWave worked to advance the ball up the floor. Momentum was not regained by either team as the third quarter found each team only scoring ten points a piece. The BlueWave first half lead was enough to cushion the third quarter slump and still keep the Panthers to a 50-39 deficit. The fourth quarter wrote a different tale for the BlueWave as Palm Beach State became energized and within the first opening minutes went on an 11-3 run to come within one point of FSCJ. The Panthers now hitting from behind the arc took the lead for the first time in the game coming down the stretch. With only nine seconds left in the game and FSCJ down by two points, sophomore Monquie Bryant came off a double screen to hit a bank shot to tie the game and force overtime. The Panthers outplayed the BlueWave 21-10 in the final quarter to even out the score 60-60 at the end of regulation play.
Overtime found a resurgence in FSCJ as they began the extra minutes of play scoring the first two buckets and taking a quick 64-60 lead. But the Panthers battled back and in the last two minutes of overtime action, the lead changes were bouncing back and forth in each teams favor. The end of overtime found FSCJ down 10-11 to the Panthers and that was enough for Palm Beach State to claim the victory with a final sore of 70-71
Freshman forward Jasmine Williams led all scorers with a career high and first double-double of the season claiming 21 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Mariah Preston contributed with 15 points and led in rebounds with 12 boards. It is Preston's second double-double of the season.
The BlueWave move to 1-1 after opening weekend and will return home to play Eastern Florida on Tuesday at 5:30pm.