PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic women's basketball team kicked off its season tonight by squaring off with the West Florida Argonauts on the road. The Sailfish battled back in the second half from a second-quarter deficit to take the lead late and held on 64-58 to move to 1-0 on the season.

The Sailfish played even in the opening quarter on the home court of a West Florida team that was coming off a 22-7 season where they finished third in the Gulf South Conference. The 'Fish shot 6-of-16 in the first ten minutes of play and got a strong start off the bench from Jahnae Midget who scored seven points early. The home side showed up in the second quarter as they outscored PBA 18-10 to go into the half with a 36-26 lead.

Head coach Manisha Redus pushed the right buttons during the break as the Sailfish came out of the gates strong to outscore the Argos 18-8 in the third quarter. The offense was clicking in the quarter as PBA shot 45 percent and went 2-for-3 from behind the three-point line. Jillian Schenk and Claire Davis buoyed the PBA attack from the floor as they finished with ten and nine points on the night respectively. 

With the game tied heading into the fourth quarter, Kash Ayuso led the way for the Sailfish to close the game out. The PBA defense limited the Argos to just 34 percent shooting on the night and to 5-of-27 shooting from deep. A balanced attack overall on the night was finished off by 11 straight Ayuso points to end the game and give PBA the six-point victory. 

Darria Whitley finished with ten points for PBA while Mariyah Fletcher added nine. Fletcher and Davis provided the work on the boards as they each pulled down nine rebounds. 

The Sailfish play the second game of their SSC-GSC Crossover tomorrow night as they face Valdosta State. The Blazers are coming off a strong season that saw them tied with the Argos in the GSC standings last year.