MELBOURNE, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic women's basketball team headed north to face off against Sunshine State Conference foe Florida Tech. The Sailfish entered the game in the eighth spot of the conference standings with four games to play and in need of a win to keep pace. The Sailfish played strong and came away with a 76-65 victory to move to 10-13 overall and 6-11 in SSC play. 

The two sides played an even opening quarter as the Panthers led 16-15. PBA was solid from the floor early on as they shot 42 percent from the field in the opening ten minutes. It was a balanced attack as six different 'Fish scored in the first quarter as Darria Whitley and Jillian Schenk each knocked down a three early on.

PBA kept the offensive efficiency going in the second quarter as they shot 6-of-12 from the floor. The only problems the Sailfish ran into were their 11 turnovers in the first half and allowing seven offensive rebounds which led to 16 points off turnovers and second-chance points combined. As she has done so many times this season, Mariyah Fletcher led the way offensively with seven points in the quarter as PBA jumped ahead 30-27 at the half. 

Both sides lit it up out of the half as PBA outscored the Panthers 25-23 in the third. The 'Fish were 11-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-4 from three as point guard Maria Benitez-Zayas came to life with 12 third-quarter points. Whitley added six in the quarter as the Sailfish continued to cling to a five-point lead. 

The Panthers simply had no answers to stop the Sailfish attack today as PBA pulled away in the final quarter of play. The Sailfish were once again over 50 percent from the field but were able to hold down the Panthers late and limit them to 23 percent in the final ten minutes. Schenk provided two timely threes as she scored six and Whitley put the game away at the line late, going 6-for-6 as PBA ran away with an 11-point victory.

Whitley finished with a game-high 22 points while Benitez-Zayas finished with 20 points and six assists. Fletcher added 15 points inside as all three shot well over 50 percent from the field. Schenk hit on 3-of-5 shots from deep to finish with nine while the Sailfish move up to the seven spots in the standings with Embry-Riddle on the bye.

PBA returns home to host Lynn on Wednesday night at Rubin Arena. The Fighting Knights are 18-7 on the season and defeated PBA 73-53 when the two sides met earlier this season.