McIntyre scored 15 of her 19 points in the 1st half, while all of Young’s scoring output came in the 2nd half of play. Jade Howard chipped in 11 points for UWF, while Octavia Bearden added a game-high 11 rebounds.
Columbus State (5-1) shot just 36.5% on the night thanks to a punishing defensive effort from West Florida. Nakita Holt scored 16 points to lead the Lady Cougars, while Dominique Gilbert grabbed All-Tournament laurels after a 13-point night.
Like UWF’s Friday night victory over Eckerd, Saturday’s game was an up-and-down contest with many shifts in momentum. The two sides were tied on ten occasions and swapped the lead 11 times.
The opening ten minutes of the game was littered with turnovers and missed shots, as both sides struggled to settle into an offensive groove. With 10:25 left in the half, Bearden sank a fastbreak basket thanks to a Krissy Diggs assist that tied the game at 11-11.
After six tied scores in the next ten minutes of play, West Florida asserted control in the final 90 seconds of the first half. McIntyre hit her first career three-pointer to give UWF a 29-26 lead with 1:10 left, and Diggs scored the final two points of the half to make the score 31-26 at intermission.
A feisty bunch, Columbus State started the 2nd period on a hot streak and scored the first six points of the half. Asha Alexander finished the 6-0 with a lay-in to make the score 32-31 with 18:44 to play.
West Florida took the lead once and for all with 15:40 on the clock, as Young connected on a short jumper to put the Argos up, 39-38.
Although Columbus State hung around and kept the game close, UWF never again fell behind. The Argonauts picked up their biggest lead of the game at the 7:31 mark, when a technical foul on the Columbus State bench allowed Young to nail four straight free throws and push the gap to 56-48.
Although the Lady Cougars would whittle the lead down to a single point on two occasions in the final six minutes, West Florida maintained the lead throughout.
Bench play was a big part of West Florida’s win. Led by the contributions of McIntyre and Howard, the Argonauts tallied 33 bench points to Columbus State’s ten.
UWF Head Coach Shannan Bergen was proud of the progress her team showed over the weekend. “Blending in so many new faces to the roster, I knew it would take some time for everyone to figure out their role on the team and how they fit in,” Bergen said after the win. “But I feel like we started to solidify our rotation this weekend and players did a good job of doing what they needed to do to help us pick up a pair of wins.”
“Hopefully,” Bergen added, “we turned a corner this weekend.”
West Florida will rest up for a week before hitting the road to face Preseason Gulf South Conference favorite Delta State University on Sunday, December 12. Tip-off in Cleveland, Miss., is scheduled for 2 pm.
2010 HIGHPOINTE HOTEL CORPORATION CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
G - Jasmine Hammon, UAH
G - Krystal Charles, Eckerd
F - Kirstin McIntyre, UWF
F - Jessica Young, UWF (MVP)
C - Dominique Gilbert, Columbus State
For information on all UWF Athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.
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