Panthers Wallop Palm Beach Atlantic
By Florida Tech // December 30, 2012
FIT Wins Opening Game Of CarMax Holiday Classic
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech’s women’s basketball squad returned to the Clemente Center after the holiday break and rolled over Palm Beach Atlantic, 81-54, in the opening game of the CarMax Holiday Classic on Saturday.
The Panthers now have won 16-straight games over the Sailfish, and their last four games of the season.
“Coming off a nine-day break, I thought we played really well,” head coach John Reynolds said. “I thought we took care of the ball really well in the first half having only five turnovers.”
Sophomore Kayk Wilson set a career-high in points for the third time this season with a game-high 25 points. Wilson has now scored in double figures in five straight games, including 20-plus points in four of those games. She now leads the team with eight double-figure games.
“When we lost Jasmire [Brown] for the season, we knew that someone else would have to pick up the scoring for us,” Reynolds said. “Jas was leading us in scoring and was a player that could create her own shot. But we have two of those types of players because Kayk can also create her own shot.”
Wilson finished the game with a career-high seven made 3-pointers, while also going 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. She also recorded a game-high three steals.
Senior Jami Chappell and sophomore Rosie Hynes also finished in double figures. Chappell record a career-high 16 points going 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from behind the arc. She also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Hynes scored 13 points—one point shy of her career mark—shooting 6-of-8 from the field.
Junior Rita Acevedo played the point to perfection creating eight assists with no turnovers, while also blocking a shot and collecting a steal.
Florida Tech (7-2) raced out to a 15-0 lead over the first 4:39 of the contest. Wilson hit two of her seven 3’s over that span. Palm Beach Atlantic (3-8) hit its first bucket at the 16:12 mark from behind the arc to trail 15-3.
The Sailfish cut the deficit to nine points, 26-17, with 9:29 remaining in the first half. But the Panthers went on a 13-2 run to take a 20-point lead, 39-19, with 4:08 left. FIT took at 45-29 advantage into the break.
Palm Beach Atlantic came within nine points four different times over the first seven minutes of the second half, but the Panthers were too much. FIT kept its lead above 14 points over the final 13 minutes before eventually winning, 81-54.
The Panthers are now 6-0 win scoring 70 or more points, and are also 6-0 when holding opponents to 60 or fewer points this season.
FIT will face Fort Valley State for the second time in 11 Sunday to conclude the CarMax Holiday Classic. The Panthers and Lady Wildcats will tip at 4 p.m. FIT won the first meeting in Fort Valley, Ga. by a score of 68-54.
