Florida Tech Women Rally To Defeat Fort Valley State

By  //  November 24, 2014

Panther's Kayk Wilson scores 36 points

Florida Tech's Kayk Wilson scored 36 points on 11-of-23 from the field, 4-of-9 from the arc and 10-of-13 from the line on Saturday. (Amanda Stratford image)
Florida Tech’s Kayk Wilson scored 36 points on 11-of-23 from the field, 4-of-9 from the arc and 10-of-13 from the line on Saturday. (Amanda Stratford image)

FORT VALLEY, GEORGIA – Florida Tech spotted the Fort Valley State Wildcats a 9-0 advantage right out of the starting block before turning on the afterburners en route to an 83-71 comeback victory on Saturday afternoon at HPE Arena.

Senior guard Kayk Wilson put forth a memorable performance, tying a career-high with 36 points on 11-of-23 shooting from the field. However, it was key contributions from a bevy of Panthers that allowed Florida Tech to start 2-0 for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

Shortly after redshirt sophomore Shereba Montgomery’s jumper extended the Wildcats’ lead to their largest of the opening half at 17-7 with 12:43 remaining, junior Tiesha Flagler propelled her own personal 8-1 run to draw the Panthers back within two at the 7:21 mark.

Just when it seemed Florida Tech would finally pull in front, Fort Valley State’s Carmenonique Dawson had an answer. Dawson tallied 10 points in the initial 20 minutes, converting 2-of-4 from long range.

John Reynolds
John Reynolds

“I’m really proud of the girls,” said head John Reynolds. “Everybody gave us good minutes today. This is a tough gym to play in and we were fortunate to come away with a big regional win.”

Relatively quiet for much of the first half, Wilson came alive with roughly five minutes to go before the break. She drilled 3-of-4 from distance within a two minute span to give Florida Tech its first lead of the game at 31-29.

After an uninspiring start, Florida Tech all the sudden found itself up 37-36 heading into the locker room.

Jasmire Brown
Jasmire Brown

The Panthers’ momentum spilled into the second half, as they were consistently able to play at their own pace.

An acrobatic lay-in plus the foul by none other than Wilson pushed the FIT lead to 10 with 14:09 left in regulation.

Forward Jasmire Brown poured in 10 of her 12 in the final half to shoulder the offensive load along with Wilson.

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FIT left the door open for the Wildcats by hitting only 56 percent of its free throws after halftime, but Wilson delivered the presumable dagger by burying a three-point field goal that stretched the lead back to 71-58 with under five minutes on the clock.

Freshman Kailyn Ebb recorded her first points in her Panther career, finishing with six points and five boards on the afternoon.

Diamond-Cooper-180-1
Diamond Cooper

Center Diamond Cooper provided FIT with a much-needed paint presence, totaling five points, four rebounds and four blocks in just 12 minutes of action.

After being outrebounded on the glass by 15 Tuesday evening against Palm Beach Atlantic, FIT drew even with Fort Valley State in the rebounding department. Both squads pulled down an identical 49 boards in the contest.

Upon returning from the Peach State, the Crimson and Gray will open its home schedule Tuesday evening against the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras.

Live video, audio and stats will be available for the 7 p.m. tip-off at FloridaTechSports.com/live