Saints Women Eliminated at State Tournament
In was a case of too much Daliyah Brown for the Santa Fe Saints too overcome in their 87-82 loss to Miami-Dade State College in the first round of the NJCAA Region VIII/FCSAA State Tournament Thursday afternoon in Niceville.
Brown, the Southern Conference Player of the Year, scored 41 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. The 5-foot-9 sophomore combo guard out of Chicago made 20 of 24 free throw attempts.
"We didn't play well to open the game and didn't have an answer for #12 (Brown)," said SF head coach Chanda Stebbins.
The Saints led by nine early in the first quarter, but the Sharks (21-11) rallied to take an 18-15 lead into the second quarter. The teams traded scoring runs in the second quarter with MDSC holding a 36-34 at the half.
The Sharks built a 10-point lead in the third quarter, but again the Saints came back and trailed 62-58 going into the fourth quarter.
"We showed some hustle in the third quarter got back in the game but didn't open the game with much intensity," said Stebbins.
SF held a 73-68 lead with 5:42 to play but the Sharks outscored the Saints 19-9 to close out the game.
" I am sorry the sophomores ended their season this way and hope the freshmen can grow from it. We turned the ball over too many times and the fouls were in balanced," said Stebbins.
The Saints (19-12) see their season come to an end after winning their second consecutive Mid-Florida Conference Championship.
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