Sophomore sharpshooter Paola Vasquez scored 20 of her team-high 22 points in the first half and her teammates took it from there as Eastern Florida’s women’s basketball team defeated Sgakit Valley 94-63 on Monday. (EFSC Image)
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Sophomore sharpshooter Paola Vasquez scored 20 of her team-high 22 points in the first half and her teammates took it from there as Eastern Florida’s women’s basketball team defeated Sgakit Valley 94-63 on Monday.
The victory at the Titan Field House on the Melbourne Campus improved Eastern Florida’s record to 5-1.
The visitors from Washington State fell to 0-1.
Skagit Valley led 20-17 after the first quarter. Eastern Florida exploded for 30 points in the second quarter for a 47-38 halftime lead and never let the visitors back in the game.
Vasquez sank five three-pointers in the first half and got ample support from the bench which continued through the remainder of the game.
The Titans led 78-51 after three quarters.
Jim Grimes
“This is the best our bench has been by far,” said Eastern Florida head coach Jim Grimes.
“I thought Brittany Wells was big for us. Tonight she was really big for us in (starting point guard) Nene’s (Johnson) absence. Nene had foul trouble and was kind of handcuffed by that all night. The bench was big especially in the third quarter.”
As for Vasquez: “We were flat besides her in the first half,” Grimes said. “She came out red hot, ready to go, thankfully because we were sluggish in the first half.”
Also, thanks to a not so subtle remainder from Grimes at halftime Eastern Florida’s defense responded.
“Defensively we were really good in the second half,” Grimes said.
“The principles we preach were absent in the first half. We gently reminded them about those at halftime and I think they responded well to it. We kept everything out of the lane. We really limited their penetration.”
All 12 of the Titans scored. Sophomore Crystal Townsend and freshmen Dysheka Price added 12 apiece. Wells and sophomore classmate Emma Grimes scored nine each.
Townsend added nine rebounds while freshman Trudy Walker had eight. Wells had six steals and five assists.
“I’ve been working hard at practice and doing my job and playing my role on the team as I come off the bench,” Wells said. “I’m doing what I can.”
The Titans will spend the Thanksgiving weekend tangling with two of the state’s top teams, playing 2014 NJCAA Women’s Division I National Championship tournament participant and nationally sixth-ranked Northwest Florida State at noon on Friday in Panama City and always-tough and nationally fifth-ranked Gulf Coast State at 4 p.m. Saturday.
