First single game road trip is in the books for Florida State College at Jackonsville (FSCJ) women's basketball.
The BlueWave traveled to Tallahassee Community College (TCC) for the second of back to back games against the Eagles. The first match up occcured at last weeks JUCO Shootout at Santa Fe College. FSCJ topped the TCC Eagles in the final minutes of play to capture the 63-62 win.
In this rematch, TCC controlled the ball from the tip and an opening layup missed by the Eagles gave FSCJ the opportunity they needed to score first. That bucket by guard M'Kayla Patteron was the spark FSCJ needed to get them offense going. The first quarter saw a controlled BlueWave team that was flowing on execution and ready on defense. In just a short couple minutes FSCJ found themselves up 4-0 before Tallahassee answered back sparking an offensive spurt. Head Coach Diana Couch called the first time out of the game before the Eagles could continue their momentum after back to back buckets tieing the game. With FSCJ settling into the groove they cruised to a first quarter 17-10 lead.
Not letting up going into the second quarter, again M'Kayla Patterson pushed the BlueWave to a 5-2 lead before TCC called a timeout. Ameera Thomas and Jaiden Ross both contributed to an additional bucket a piece, but it would not be enough to hold the Eagles who were hungry to avenge last weeks loss. FSCJ was forcing shots in an effort to widened the margin but TCC grabbed the boards and transitioned hard giving them the advantage and outscoring the Bluewave 9-11 in the second quarter. Cutting the lead to 5 points, both teams headed into the locker with FSCJ up 26-21.
The Eagles still energized by the late second quarter surge came out ready to play, while FSCJ landed flat. TCC put on an aggressive halfcourt press that frazzled the BlueWave causing them to turn the ball over. Unable to convert off the pressure and not find an offensive flow TCC narrowed the FSCJ lead to one after a 3-9 run. Finally able to break the press and force TCC back into the zone, FSCJ would stall out in the third quarter only adding 3 more points scored from behind the arc by a hot handed Patterson. The 6-18 rout by a charged TCC would cause the first lead change of the game in favor of Eagles 32-39.
Down by 7, a determined Patterson took the team on her back draining back to back 3's. But a series of defensive errors allowed TCC easy buckets to continue the growing lead. After hitting one of two free-throws, TCC called a timeout to stifle the 7-6 lead that FSCJ was hoping to build upon. Johanna Bell would add a bucket along with Patterson, but it was not enough to hold back the driven Eagles of TCC as they attacked the paint to convert off drives and dump downs. Poor defensive communication once again resulted in sending TCC to the free throw line 9 times in the final minutes and expanding a lead that the BlueWave would not recover from. The 11-13 final quarter added to TCC's growing margin and as the final horn sounded the BlueWave would mark a notch in the loss column, 43-52.
Returner sophomore guard M'Kayla Patterson scored over half the teams points alone with 24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists. She went 4-7 from the floor and hit 5- 3's to record a memorable career high at FSCJ. Jaiden Ross contributed 7 points and 8 rebs, Avery Cannon 6, Johanna Bell 4 and 6 assists and Ameera Thomas 2.
The BlueWave drop to 4-5 on the season and are set to host DME Academy Tuesday at 6:00pm