After a string of five wins, the Columbia Tigers's good fortune finally ran out on Saturday. They lost to Rickards on the road by a decisive 53-35 margin. While losing is never fun, Columbia can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 131st, while Rickards is ranked 39th).
Despite the defeat, Columbia had strong showings from MARIAH COX, who scored 14 points along with five steals, and JOLENA GARDNER, who scored 11 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. GARDNER is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last nine games she's played.
Rickards got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Amirahs Hayes out in front who scored 16 points along with five rebounds. That's the first time this season that Hayes scored 15 or more points. Another player making a difference was Journee Belcher, who scored nine points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Columbia's loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 11-7. As for Rickards, their win was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-4.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Columbia and St. Augustine will face off at 7:00 p.m. on January 23rd without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. One thing working in St. Augustine's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last four matches. As for Rickards, they will head out on the road to square off against Chiles at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Chiles focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 11 on Saturday.
