By Nathan Deen
Published on November 21, 2007
After picking up two conference road wins against North Florida, the PJC women’s basketball team lost their opening conference home game to Okaloosa Walton Community College, 66-62.
Both teams showed a high level of intensity throughout the game. PJC caused nine more turnovers on defense than the Lady Raiders. Okaloosa Walton, however, managed to out-rebound The Lady Pirates. The game came down to big shots and the Lady Raiders made them when they counted. In the second half, with the help of a PJC foul, the Lady Raiders converted a five-point play, which Okaloosa Walton head coach Brittney Ezell said helped in swinging the momentum in her team’s favor.
The first half was filled with runs as both teams looked as if they could pull away only to have their opponent come back. PJC hit the first run of the game (9-2), which put them ahead 17-13 with just under ten minutes remaining in the first half. Okaloosa Walton followed with a 10-2 run to pull ahead 27-21. The Lady Raiders led 33-29 at halftime.
The Lady Raiders maintained the lead throughout the second half although they never led by more than six points.
PJC head coach Chanda Rigby said she was pleased with her team’s defensive effort but not so much with their execution on offense.
“We were getting stops but we weren’t capitalizing on the other end,” said Rigby. “We rushed our shots on offense.”
Forward Geneshia Dunbar and guard Victoria Hunt led PJC in scoring with 12 points each. Dominque Sutton led the team in rebounds with 6 followed by Dunbar, who had 5. Point Guard Kristian Diggs had a team-high 4 assists.
Three Lady Raiders scored in double figures. Guard Alicia Lewis had 12 points while forward Brittney Gunn and guard Alexandra Sanabria each had 11.
PJC (13-4) will travel to Panama City to play conference rival Gulf Coast Community College on Jan. 12. Tip off set for 5:30 p.m.