Senior Tara Russ had a solid performance vs. West Georgia

Feb. 9, 2008

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The West Georgia Wolves were just too much for the West Florida women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon. The Argos gave it a valiant effort, but fell short to West Georgia, who is now 20-2 on the season, and 7-0 in conference. West Florida closed to within nine points, 57-48 with 6:47 to play, but the Wolves closed the game out on an 18-7 run. Amy Drake led the Argos with 12 points, while Chelsea Patterson chipped in with 11 points.

Head Coach Shannan Bergen was not all disappointed with the loss, "I saw some good things today, we continue to play hard, the kids have not given up. We shot the ball better today and made some smarter decision with the basketball, then we have been doing. However, we were up against the best team that we have played this year, and they put a lot of defensive pressure on you, and we still shot well. We need to carry that forward."

West Florida led early 12-8, but went six minutes without a basket, and fell behind 24-12. The Argos closed to within six points with 2:39 left in the first half and went into halftime trailing 38-30. Amy Drake scored 12 first half points for UWF, while Tia Jackson had 10 for West Georgia. Drake and Jessie Ivey had connected on back to back three pointers early on to help the Argos out to the 12-8 lead. West Georgia had nine offensive rebounds in the first half, with several coming in the 14 point run midway thru the first half.

West Georgia opened the second half with a 13-2 run, and had a 20 point lead midway thru the second half. After a Samantha Schlaegel free throw, Patterson came up with a steal and Karmeshia Easley finished it with a layup. Laura Davis capped off a 6 point run with a three pointer, as the Argos grabbed some momentum. Moments later, Schlaegel scored inside and then Dominique Boykins followed with a basket to cut the lead to 10 points. A couple minutes later, Laura Davis connected on another three point basket, which pulled the Argos to within nine points.

West Georgia closed out the game with strong rebounding and good free throw shooting. The Wolves out-rebounded the Argos 49-31, and shot 72% from the free throw line, while West Florida struggled at 38% from the line. The Argos shot over 40% from the field for only the third time in the last 14 games, which helped to keep them in the game against the talented tenth ranked Wolves. Jessie Ivey provided a spark off the bench for UWF, with five points, two rebounds, a blocked shot, and one assist.

West Florida falls to 8-14 overall, and 1-6 in the conference, while the tenth ranked Wolves improved to 20-2 on the season, and a perfect 7-0 in conference play. Dominic Cranford led West Georgia with 19 points. The Argos will take on Alabama Huntsville on Monday night, with a chance to redeem an early defeat at Huntsville. Game time is 5:30 pm, with the Men's game to follow at 7:30 pm. Both games will be broadcast on Stretch Internet.