The Commodores Suffer Their First Loss of the Season

Alieghya Bartholomew photo credit: Adrian Garthaus instagram//@shotby_acg

Gulf Coast’s ladies fell to 5-1 after a rematch with the Eastern Florida Titans on Friday. After a 66-54 win against the Titans in Niceville, the Commodores faced the Titans again, this time in Gainesville. Gulf Coast trailed by 10 early, until Ayana Boyd hit back-to-back threes to put the Commodores in striking range. The Commodores grabbed their first lead with an Alieghya Bartholomew three. Unfortunately, Boyd had to leave the game due to a knee injury. Gulf Coast went into halftime with a 34-33 lead. The second half was closely battled with the lead switching hands multiple times. Multiple Commodores found themselves in foul trouble, forcing head coach Rory Kuhn to use different rotations to finish the game. Late in the 4^th quarter, Eastern Florida was able to pull away due to technical fouls being assessed to Gulf Coast’s bench. Despite the effort from the Commodores, Eastern Florida won 76-62. Bartholomew shined for the Commodores with 23 points. After the game, Coach Kuhn said, “We showed good heart and grit, but we just ran out of gas at the end. We just need to forget about this one and not let it carry over to tomorrow.”

The lady Commodores shifted their focus to the Santa Fe Saints. The Commodores looked very motivated to bounce back from the loss. Gulf Coast gained a double-digit lead in the 1^st quarter. The three-point shot was falling for Alisha Murray and Raiane Dias Dos Santos, as they went into halftime up 54-40. Murray led the way for Gulf Coast to avenge their loss, as she finished the game with 18 points and 4 steals. Murray summed up the win stating, “We had to dig in after the loss and show everyone who we are. We picked up our focus and intensity and locked in as a team.” A 97-72 win over Santa Fe allowed Gulf Coast to wash out the bad taste of their rematch with Eastern Florida.