Saints women's basketball team displayed grit in a tough matchup but ultimately fell to the Chipola College Indians 92-71 at home Tuesday, November 26.

The Saints put on a fantastic show in the first half as they hustled and kept up with the #7 nationally ranked Indians despite being outsized and lead on the scoreboard up until the very last minute before halftime. Chipola took the lead away from the Saints and ended the first half 38-35.

Keeping up with powerhouse Chipola, the Saints were within arm's length of the lead at the beginning of the second half through the middle of the third quarter until the Indians had a flurry of points for a 29-17 third stanza against Santa Fe.

Despite the Saints' best efforts, the scoring margin continued to grow in favor of their opponent until the buzzer sounded.

Saints head coach Chanda Stebbins stated, "I am pleased that we were able to hang with Chipola through the first two quarters.  I would have liked to have seen us raise our energy level even more in the third and fourth quarters."

Stebbins added, "We still have to learn to take better care of the ball and turn the ball over fewer times."

Despite the outcome, the Saints gave Chipola a good run for majority of the game.

"Defensively we did a great job in the first two quarters holding them to 19 points, but the third quarter 29 really hurt us. At the end of the day that is a really good team and we are getting better and must continue to work to address some of our weaknesses," said Stebbins.

The leading scorer for the Saints was Aleisha Curry with 13 points and eight rebounds. Lauren Carmona added 10 points and both Yairé Rodriguez and Danasia Bogle contributed eight points apiece. 

The Saints (5-5, 0-0 MFC) host Hillsborough Community College for a 7:30 p.m. game Tuesday, December 3.

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