She managed to remain positive as usual during her team’s dreary nine-game losing streak, but last Thursday night Faulkner State Community College women’s basketball coach Linda Pitts was finally able to smile brightly again.
“We went to Plan B tonight because Plan A hadn’t been working too good lately,” Pitts wisecracked while waiting for her team’s game statistics to slide off the computer printer following a 65-43 home-court win over rebuilding G.C. Wallace-Selma.
“Really, our key was getting the ball into the post early tonight and also doing a good job on the boards,” Pitts said. “I thought our guards did a good job on both the offensive and defensive ends. Destinee Dale had a very good game and Renee (Watson) also hit some big shots tonight.”
Watson, the former Baldwin County High School standout who was absent from the basketball court as an FSCC freshman but excelled on the volleyball court for the past two seasons, sank two 3-point field goals, both of her free throws and scored eight points to go with four rebounds, two assists and steal in 22-plus minutes off the bench.
Both of Watson’s 3-pointers came in the second half, the first with 14:47 remaining to give FSCC a 50-28 lead, and the other with 13 minutes to play for a 53-30 lead.
The final score equalled Faulkner’s biggest lead. The first 22-point advantage was 61-39 via Dale’s 3-pointer with 5:19 to play, and Breunna Bester’s layup with 14.6 seconds to play was the game’s last shot.
Crystal Morris’ layup off an inbounds play with the game just 21 seconds old gave Faulkner a lead it never relinquished. The Lady Sun Chiefs scored the game’s first five points, gave up four in a row, then built a 27-14 lead with a 7-0 run that included a 3-poiner by Quandra Hansford.
Faulkner’s biggest first-half lead was 30-14 when point guard Kala Smith launched a 3-pointer 2:42 before halftime.
Dale and Jessica Lindsey finished with 14 points each to lead the Lady Sun Chiefs, who finished 5-for-11 on 3-pointers after going 3-for-4 in the second half.. Lindsey, a redshirt freshman Prichard’s Vigor High who like Hansford is battling back from a knee injury, started and also had six rebounds, as did Latoya Brown. Smith scored 12 points and had five rebounds. Dale made three steals.
Shamika Stapleton also provided a spark off the bench, sinking three of four 2-point attempts and grabbing three rebounds in less than 15 minutes of playing time.
Sivon Pugh led the Lady Patriots, who are in just their second season of play after starting up their women’s hoop program again, with 10 points and seven rebounds. Kenisha Poole had nine points and seven rebounds, and Shawnese Armstead contributed nine points, five rebounds and two steals.
