The BlueWave women's basketball team traveled south to Daytona Beach for their third conference game of the season against Daytona State College. FSCJ currently 1-1 in the conference play are looking to capitalize on the energy from their previous win against the College of Central Florida.
The Falcons of Daytona State played a fast pace game, catching and driving straight to the basket. The up-tempo pace put FSCJ on their heels causing a lot of early defensive fouls that sent Daytona State to the free throw line. The Falcons connected 7 out of the 8 free-throws attempted in the first quarter forcing Coach Wooten to call an early time out to refocus her team. Rallying into the 2nd quarter, the BlueWave played a solid 10 minutes of defense and kept the Falcons off the line. FSCJ and Daytona exchanged buckets the entire second quarter never allowing either team to go on a run. Ending the first half with a score of 21-36, FSCJ headed into the locker room to discuss a comeback strategy.
Coach Wooten encouraged her team to play with confidence, attack the basket, and push the ball in transition. Going into the second half Daytona State came out fresh like the start of the game attacking off the dribble. The Falcons converted for quick points and managed to draw fouls, once again putting them on the free throw line. With Daytona gaining momentum, Coach Wooten attempted to minimize DSC's run with a quick substitution pattern to keep up with Daytona's pace. The third quarter found FSCJ down 35-59. Kayla Mansell and Gift Sampson seemed to find their rhythm taking over on the offensive end, scoring 14 out of the 15 points but it wasn't enough as the BlueWave fell 50-77.
FSCJ had three players in double figures; sophomore Monique Bryant with 16 points and 7rebounds, freshman Kayla Mansell with 12 points and 4 steals, and freshman Gift Sampson with 11 points and 5rebounds.