MELBOURNE, Fla. – Palm Beach Atlantic women's basketball dropped a road Sunshine State Conference matchup with Florida Tech on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Panthers by a 72-46 final.  The Sailfish drop to 2-13 overall with the loss while FIT improves to 6-11 with the victory. 

The Sailfish struggled to get things going in the opening quarter as they made just two field goals and trailed 21-4 at the end of the first quarter.  The second quarter is where the Sailfish found their groove offensively, as they outscored the Panthers 26-13 and cut the Panther lead to just four at the break.

Jonika Garvin led the way with 10 points in the first half and added six rebounds.  Taylor Laabs hit a big three late in the half and scored eight points in the opening 20 minutes.  Claudia Charles made two shots from long range in the opening half to help the Sailfish cut into the Panther lead before the break. The Sailfish went on a 13-2 run midway through the second quarter which really got them back into the game. 

FIT rebounded nicely out of the half as they began the third quarter on a 19-5 run to open up a 53-35 lead and went on to defeat the Sailfish by the 26-point margin.

Garvin led the Sailfish with 13 points and 10 rebounds as she posted her second straight double-double.  Laabs finished with 10 points in her 20 minutes of action on Saturday.  Ibilola Oyedeji finished with nine points on the afternoon and added four rebounds and two assists.

The Sailfish will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 23 as they will host Nova Southeastern at 5:30 p.m. inside Rubin Arena.