WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic women's basketball team returned to the friendly confines of Rubin Arena today for their Sunshine State Conference home-opener against Rollins College. After a blistering start, the Sailfish faded against the Tars and fell by a score of 65-50. The Sailfish record falls to 3-4 with the defeat and 0-2 in SSC play.
The Sailfish jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the opening three minutes of play as they came out the more energetic and efficient team from the floor. The Sailfish hot start from the field began to wane as the quarter went on as they finished shooting 6-of-15 shooting and 2-of-8 from three. After leading by double digits early, the Tars had cut the PBA lead to 18-14 at the half.
PBA held down one of the top three-point shooting sides in the SSC as they limited the Tars to 2-of-10 from three in the first half. Unfortunately, the 'Fish would have their own struggles from three on the night as they finished 3-of-25 from beyond the three-point line. After an even second quarter of play between the two sides, the Sailfish remained in front 33-30.
The second half was all Tars as they outscored PBA 35-17 in the second half. The Sailfish offense struggled as the Tars dropped back into a saggy zone defense and the Sailfish couldn't find an answer. The offensive bright spots were
Jillian Schenk who finished with 15 points and
Ashleigh Boulin who had ten points on an efficient 3-of-4 shooting.
Mariyah Fletcher and
Claire Davis finished with nine and six points respectively but combined to shoot 3-of-19 from the floor.
The 'Fish failed to hit a shot from the field in the final ten minutes of play as they were outscoring 14-4 in the final quarter. The Tars finished the game shooting 43 percent and 35 percent from three while the Sailfish shot just 24 percent and 12 percent from three. The Sailfish had struggled with turnovers throughout the year but did a solid job protecting the ball as they committed just ten.
The Sailfish get a week off and will return to play next Saturday when they take the trip south to face Nova Southeastern. The Sharks are 3-3 on the season and 1-1 in SSC play.
