Women’s Basketball Earns Wire-to-Wire Win over Miami Dade
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Less than 24 hours after falling to No. 19 Florida Southwestern, Santa Fe Women's Basketball bounced back in a big way by leading from start to finish against Miami Dade in an 83-68 victory.
First Quarter – SF 25, MDC 15
The Saints got off to a great start and went ahead 7-2 after a triple from Selah Reddick two and a half minutes into the contest.
Miami Dade trimmed the SF lead to two, 14-12, with 4:21 on the clock. That is when the Saints began a 9-0 run. Aleisha Curry had five points during that stretch of play.
After the Sharks stopped the run with a basket and the foul, Taniah Bowers concluded the quarter with a hard drive and finish to hand the Saints a ten-point lead after the first quarter.
Second Quarter – SF 50, MDC 36
Another 9-0 run from the Saints put SF in front by 19, 34-15, two and a half minutes into the frame.
Although Miami Dade was able to cut their deficit down to 14 at the halftime whistle, the Saints' offense continued to be tough to stop.
At the half, SF was shooting 59.4 percent from the field, converting on 19-of-32 from the floor with five three-pointers.
Third Quarter – SF 68, MDC 51
Miami Dade made a push at the start of the third quarter and trailed by ten, 54-44, with 7:22 on the clock.
Once again, however, the Saints had a swift response with nine unanswered points to push the lead back to 19 points, 63-44. Five points during the run came from Olivia Smith.
The SF lead sat at 17 points headed into the final ten minutes of action.
Fourth Quarter – SF 83, MDC 68
After the Sharks produced the first five points of the fourth quarter, Coach Stebbins called a timeout to stem the tide.
It worked, and SF sealed the win by continuing to display an efficient and balanced offensive attack. Miami Dade never was able to get any closer than 12 points the rest of the way, and the Saints picked up the second win of the 2021-2022 season in convincing fashion.
Key Statistics
The Saints took care of the ball throughout the game and were forced into a season-low 11 turnovers.
SF made the most of their trips to the charity stripe and went 16-of-22 from the free-throw line, rewarded for aggressive drives to the basket.
Five of the six players that played for SF were in double-figures scoring, led by 18 from Bowers who went 7-of-10 from the field with five rebounds and four assists.
Curry finished with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds (seven on the offensive end), while Reddick (15), Kelli Cunningham (14), and Malea Brown (11) were key offensive contributors as well. Cunningham sunk four attempts from beyond the arc.
Up Next
Santa Fe (2-3, 0-0 Central) will next take the floor in the team's home opener on Friday, Nov. 19 at 5:00 p.m. against Webber International University JV.