The Lady Pirates opened the season with two impressive wins at the 2nd Annual "Battle on Beach Boulevard – Border Wars" Tip-Off, hosted at Florida State College at Jacksonville.
In their season opener, the Lady Pirates were matched against the Florida Southwestern Lady Buccaneers. After three quarters of back-and-forth action, the Lady Pirates held on to a 50-46 lead headed into the final period.
Sophomore guard, Gabriela Bendeck-Giron, tallied eight of her game-high 21 points in the final stanza to help the Lady Pirates pull away and secure a 74-57 victory. Bendeck-Giron was joined in double-figure scoring by the four remaining Pirate starters. Tanita Swift contributed 14 points along with five assists, while Reina Green recorded her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Audreonia Benson and Jaida McDonald both finished with 10 points.
Makenna Shaffer led Florida Southwestern in scoring with 17 points.
"Opening up the season playing two of the top 10 teams in the state was very challenging. I'm proud of the toughness we showed and the ability to continue fighting when we could've given up", explained Head Coach Clenita Belford.
Day 2 of "Border Wars" featured the Lady Pirates pulling off a thrilling overtime upset over the nation's 3rd ranked Eastern Florida State Lady Titans.
The Lady Pirates fought for three quarters before finding themselves trailing 61-51 with 8:02 remaining in the contest. Pensacola State was able to force consecutive turnovers and began to chip away at the Titan lead behind a strong fourth quarter performance from Tanita Swift, who had 11 points in the final period of regulation. The Lady Pirates were able battle back to within one point at 70-69 with 2:28 left to determine a winner. Trailing 72-71 with 11.2 seconds remaining, Gabby Bendeck-Giron rebounded a missed Titan free-throw and advanced the ball the length of the court. Audreonia Benson's shot attempt at 2.1 seconds fell just short but Terrianna Wilburn was able to secure the offensive rebound and was fouled on a putback attempt with 0.3 seconds left on the clock. Wilburn missed the first free-throw before netting the second attempt to tie the game at 72-72 and forcing overtime.
In the extra period of play, the Lady Pirates led 82-77 with 1:50 on the clock before the Lady Titans put together a 5-0 run to tie the contest at 82-82 with under a minute to play. Benson was able to nail a three to give the Lady Pirates an 85-82 advantage with 17.7 seconds left. A Lady Titan three-point attempt fell just short and was rebounded by Benson with 1.3 remaining. Eastern Florida was forced to foul Benson, who knocked down two free-throws to secure the 87-82 upset victory.
Swift led the Lady Pirates in scoring with 24 points, seven rebounds, and four steals. Bendeck-Giron had another scoring outburst finishing with 22 points. Benson and Katiya Casey added 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Amelia Hassett led Eastern Florida State with 35 points and 12 rebounds. Jaidyn Koerdt added 16 points.
The Lady Pirates move to 2-0 on the season. They will return to action on Friday, November 10th with a game at DME Academy.