JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Santa Fe College women's basketball came up short in the Central Conference opener at Florida State College at Jacksonville, as the Blue Wave hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat the Saints, 54-51.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Saints led 27-18 at the end of the opening half, with Triniti Youngblood (eight points) and Selah Reddick (seven points) leading the offensive effort in the absence of leading scorer Malea Brown.

The advantage did not hold, however, and the Blue Wave went in the final quarter with a 37-34 lead, outscoring SF 19-7 in the third quarter.

SF trailed 47-40 with a little over four minutes left to play but made a comeback surge in the final minutes.

The Saints were able to tie the contest at 49-49, but two free-throw attempts went down for FSCJ for the hosts to go in front 51-49.

That lead remained until about 15 seconds left, but the Saints forced a Blue Wave turnover. On the ensuing possession, Khaleah Douglas had a second-chance putback tie it up at 51-51.

With just a few seconds left, FSCJ pushed the ball up the floor and got an open look for the game-winner from the left side, and Avery Cannon's three-point shot went through at the horn to hand the Blue Wave the victory.

UPDATED RECORDS

Santa Fe – 7-9, 0-1 Central

FSCJ – 5-11, 1-0 Central

KEY STATISTICS

Full statistics will be made available as soon as possible. Reddick (13 points) and Youngblood (10 points) paced the SF offense.

Joey Delancy had eight, and Douglas finished with seven.

UP NEXT

The Saints (7-9, 0-1 Central) will be aiming to snap a four-game losing skid when No. 6 Eastern Florida State College travels to Gainesville on Wednesday, Jan. 11. Tipoff time is set for 5:30 p.m.