MELBOURNE, Fla. – The University of West Alabama women's basketball team saw its fourth quarter rally fall short to the Florida Institute of Technology, falling by a final score of 69-65, Thursday evening from the Clemente Center.
With the win, FIT improves to 2-4, while UWA falls to 1-2.
Trailing 6-4 midway through the first quarter, the Tigers went on an 11-2 run to put the lead in the visitors' favor.
Sydney Schwallie got the scoring going with two triples and a
Shayla Golden jumper to make it 12-8.
UWA added a
Kendall Lacoste jumper at the end of the opening quarter to lead 17-12.
In the second quarter, while the West Alabama offense went cold, Florida Tech took advantage of it, holding UWA scoreless for nearly nine minutes, going on a 18-0 run.
The Tigers answered with nine final points in the second quarter's final minute. The drought ended with free throws by Lacoste with 1:26 left in the period. Following a turnover,
Maryanne Logsdon answered with a shot from downtown to cut what was a 13-point deficit down to four at the break.
Late in the third, UWA made it a six-point affair, 45-39, with 2:41 to go, but four free throws by FIT made it a 10-point affair, 49-39, in favor of the Panthers going into the final stanza.
A 14-point hole was eventually cut down to six with three minutes left in the fourth after a three-point play by Golden. With under a minute left the contest, down eight, UWA drained two free throws by
Julia Rodriguez to make it a 64-58 score.
Following two missed free throws by Kyandra Poitier, UWA used it to their advantage as Lacoste knocked down a triple from the top of the key to pull the contest to a one-possession game, 64-61, but free throws by FIT sealed the contest.
Kendall Lacoste had her first double-digit performance in her third collegiate game with 16 points thanks to four triples.
Shayla Golden added 13 points, while
Jordan Parker scored 11 points thanks to 7-of-11 from the charity stripe.
Maryanne Logsdon also dished out six assists.
Remingtyn Smith and Kyandra Porter each contributed 12 points for the Panthers, while Poitier added 10 boards.
UWA wraps up its Florida trip on Saturday with a contest at Palm Beach Atlantic.
