Lady Eagles bounce back in record-breaking fashion

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (December 29, 2012) – After falling to Georgia Perimeter College on Friday evening, NJCAA No. 22/FCSAA No. 4 Tallahassee Community College needed to bounce back quickly if it wanted to carry any momentum its January 5 Panhandle Conference opener.

Behind a record-breaking performance from its defense, Tallahassee got back on the winning track in a big way, defeating the College of Central Florida, 75-29, on Saturday in the final night of action at the Comfort Inn Holiday Classic.

Against the Patriots (3-14), Tallahassee was every bit as dominant as the score indicated. 

Thought both teams started out slow offensively, Tallahassee broke a 3-all tie with a 12-2 run to grab its first double-digit lead of the night. R'Kiyah Scott knocked down a jumper to get Central Florida back within eight, 15-7, with 12:04 left in the first half but that turned out to be as close as the Patriots would get the rest of the night. 

Sarah Williams' basket started an 8-2 run and Tallahassee later scored the final 13 points of the half to carry a 36-11 lead to the locker room. 

Central Florida twice got within 23 in the first three minutes of the second half but soon after Tallahassee scored 15 unanswered points to extend its lead to 59-19 with 9:57 left in the game. 

Led by sophomore Yanique Gordon's career-high 15 points, Tallahassee's reserves outscored its Central Florida counterparts, 32-4. Gordon hit a career-best six field goals on eight attempts and also recorded a personal best nine rebounds in what was easily her strongest outing since returning from a knee injury that sidelined her for the first month of the season. 

In addition to Gordon, Tallahassee got stellar bench play from freshman Morgan DeMilio who scored three points and dished out five assists in 14 minutes of action.

Sophomore Jeraldine Campbell, making her first start of the season, also added 15 points for Tallahassee. 

Tallahassee limited Central Florida to 5-of-27 (18.5 percent) shooting in the first half and 13-of-60 (21.7 percent) overall. That translated into a dominating performance on the glass, where the Lady Eagles outrebounded Central Florida, 61-26. 

Karley Barnes had 15 rebounds and Aariel Allen, 12. 

Tallahassee will carry an 11-3 record into next Saturday's PC opener at NJCAA No. 12/FCSAA No. 3 Chipola College. Game time is 6:30 p.m. eastern and the game will be carried by Panhandle Sports Broadcasting at www.PSBlive.com. 

In Saturday's first game at the Comfort Inn Holiday Classic, Indian River State College defeated Georgia Perimeter, 60-57, to emerge as the only undefeated team in the weekend event.