PENSACOLA, Fla. — West Florida (1-2) defeated Pensacola Christian (3-1) 85-58. West Florida outscored Pensacola Christian 36-14 in the third quarter and finished with a 46-29 rebounding advantage.
Janai Jordan scored 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and made four 3-pointers.
Nia Coleman finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Annarose Tyre added nine points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals without a turnover.
Finley Kennedy tallied 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Jordan hit two 3-pointers in the opening four minutes, and
Finley Kennedy's steal and fast-break layup put West Florida ahead 10-4 at 6:24. Pensacola Christian answered with a 12-0 run, getting a jumper from Sky Boyd, 3-pointers from Reagan Moilan and Clara Bieber, an Amy Ahrens layup and two Boyd free throws to move in front 16-10. Kennedy ended the stretch with a second-chance layup, and Tyre added a free throw to bring West Florida within 16-13. Boyd scored again late, but Kennedy finished a Coleman feed with 17 seconds left as West Florida closed the quarter trailing 18-15.
After Coleman scored inside and
Giselle Eke converted a Kennedy feed to put West Florida ahead 19-18 at 8:50, Pensacola Christian answered with 3-pointers from Sky Boyd and Maddie Fowler to move in front 24-19. West Florida came back with an eight-point run, getting a fast-break layup from Tyre, a
Sinaya Gibson layup, a Coleman jumper at 4:15 and two Gibson free throws to go ahead 27-24. Clara Bieber's jumper got Pensacola Christian within 27-26, but Jordan scored in transition and West Florida forced four straight turnovers during a stretch that included free throws from Tyre and
Ebba Zalamans. Coleman added the final basket with six seconds left, sending West Florida into halftime ahead 34-26.
After Sky Boyd scored at 9:50 and Eke answered with a layup, Pensacola Christian added two Micah Coalson free throws and another Boyd basket to make it 36-32 at 8:30. West Florida moved back out with
Janai Jordan's two free throws and 3-pointer, a Kennedy fast-break layup and
Ebba Zalamans' tip-in, building a 45-32 lead before Boyd hit a 3-pointer. The Argos followed with another scoring stretch, getting a
Presley Hughes tip-in, two Jordan baskets and a
Kendall Lacoste layup to go ahead 53-35, and later pushed the margin with 3-pointers from Coleman,
Maddy Rendall and Kennedy. After a Rachel Phelps free throw, Coleman and Tyre added two more 3-pointers in the final 37 seconds to send West Florida to the fourth quarter ahead 70-40.
"I thought we had a phenomenal third quarter sharing the basketball," said Coach Yelton. "I thought the energy from the defensive end of the court carried into our offense."
Jordan hit a 3-pointer off
Annarose Tyre's assist at 9:17 to move West Florida ahead 73-40, and after Abby Matney answered from deep, Kennedy and Coleman scored in the paint around a Sky Boyd layup for a 77-45 lead. Pensacola Christian followed with Boyd's 3-pointer and Reagan Moilan's offensive-rebound layup, before Zalamans made two free throws and West Florida kept a later possession alive with offensive rebounds ahead of Tyre's layup for an 81-50 lead. Boyd answered with a jumper, Zalamans finished inside off an assist from Lacoste for an 83-52 lead, and after Amy Ahrens scored for Pensacola Christian, Gibson converted Coleman's assist to make it 85-54 at 1:52. Mady Bruce scored twice in the final minute, including a fast-break layup after a steal, but West Florida closed out an 85-58 win.
Up next, the West Florida basketball team travels to Tallahassee, Fla., to face Florida State on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 5 p.m.
