Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) women's basketball team faced NJCAA #3 Eastern Florida State College (EFSC) tonight in a game that ended with a 77-37 loss.
The BlueWave came out in the first quarter determined and driven to compete alongside nationally ranked Eastern Florida State College. FSCJ did not disappoint from the tip and gave the Titans a run for their money. Ameera Thomas hit the opening bucket for the BlueWave to put FSCJ on the board. Eastern would answer back and take the lead before FSCJ turned up the defensive pressure that resulted in Titan turnovers. The BlueWave would convert and found themselves in the lead for several possessions before Eastern would connect from behind the arc to regain the lead 16-21 in the first quarter.
Second quarter sang a different tune for the BlueWave as they fell out of rhythm at the rim. Eastern took advantage and secured the defensive rebound and transitioned down the court for easy layups. M'Kayla Patterson would connect from the three before running dry allowing Eastern to once again hit the lanes running on transition from defensive rebounds. Before the BlueWave could settle back into the game plan, poor offensive shooting plagued the quarter resulting in a 7-26 run by the Titans to bring the halftime score to 47-23.
FSCJ would come out the locker room ready to play and re-ignite defensive efforts causing problems for the Titans conversions. Slow to move within the offense the BlueWave missed several scoring opportunities and found themselves working defensively to keep the Titans within reach. Avery Cannon would finally break free from EFSC defense and hit a baseline three to keep the quarter within range. Finally grabbing the offensive boards FSCJ would once again give the EFSC a scare before the end of the third quarter. A 10-16 performance would add to the score bringing Eastern to a 63-33 lead going into the final quarter. The BlueWave would run dry offensively in the fourth only converting four points before going scoreless for over five minutes to end the game.
Sophomore Ameera Thomas would lead the BlueWave with 11 points, going 5-6 free-throw line. Teammates M'Kayla Patterson contributed 10 and Avery Cannon connected from behind the arc twice for 6 points.
The final score of 77-37 would mark the third loss in a row for the BlueWave in conference play. FSCJ ends the first round of conference play 1-3 and 5-15 for the season. The BlueWave will return to play when they travel to Santa Fe College on Wednesday to begin the second round of conference play. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.