SOUTHAVEN, Miss. –
The West Florida women’s basketball team stayed right with No. 6 Arkansas Tech through the first half of the Gulf South Conference Tournament first round game at the DeSoto Civic Center on Thursday, but the Golden Suns pulled away in the second half and handed the Argonauts an 87-64 loss.
With the loss, UWF finished the season 14-14, while the Golden Suns, co-champions of the GSC West Division, advanced to the tournament semifinals with a 26-2 record.
Senior guard Amy Drake finished the day with 20 points on 7-15 shooting from the field, and she also added five rebounds and four assists. Senior Tiffany Williams added 10 points and led the team with five assists.
Williams hit a jumper to open the scoring in the first half, and UWF led for the first eight minutes of the game, including a seven-point advantage on a Drake three-pointer with 16:05 on the clock.
Shaquilah Davis scored on a jumper to give the Golden Suns their first lead at 16-15 with 11:30 left, and the score remained close through the rest of the first half. Drake scored a layup with 2:23 left, but the Argos went cold for the rest of the half, and ATU pulled away for a three-point lead at 34-31 going into halftime.
Senior Jessie Ivey hit a three to open the second half, tying the score at 34, but ATU responded thanks to the duo of Natalia Santos and Jessica Weatherford.
ATU quickly went up by 10 points and did not look back, taking a lead as big as 28 late in the second half. Santos shot 7-7 from the field and 5-7 from the free throw line in the second half for 19 points, while Weatherford was 5-6 for 11 second half points.
Santos, Weatherford, and the rest combined for a 38-14 advantage on points in the paint in the second half only.
Santos finished the game with 28 points and eight rebounds, and she was 11-15 from the field. Weatherford finished with 18 points and a game-high seven assists, and Jenny Vining was 3-8 from long range for her 11 points. The Golden Suns shot 46.5 percent from the field, while UWF finished the game at 39.3 percent.
ATU finished the game with a 45-36 rebound advantage, and the margin came almost entirely on the offensive side, as the Golden Suns finished with 16 offensive boards to the Argos’ nine.
With the loss, UWF finishes the year with a record of 14-14, and the team will likely not earn an NCAA berth when the tournament field is announced on Sunday.
The team graduates six seniors, including All-GSC guards Amy Drake and Tiffany Williams, four year seniors Dominique Boykins, Jessie Ivey, and Caitlin Salak, and transfer Jamie Freeman.
“I’m proud of them,” said Head Coach Shannan Bergen. “We haven’t been here in a few years. I’m proud for not only my seniors but for my underclassmen to have an opportunity to come to the conference tournament and experience a great atmosphere.”
“Our seniors have done an outstanding job all year long. My hat goes off to them. I’ll miss them dearly, and I appreciate everything they’ve done for the program and the University of West Florida.”
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