PANAMA CITY — Kayla Montgomery can simply throw her hands to the sky and be an effective defender on the basketball court.
When she is as engaged defensively as she was Saturday night at the Billy Harrison Field House, however, the 6-foot-5 Montgomery can dominate the game like few others can at the junior college level.
Montgomery set a Gulf Coast record with 14 blocked shots and finished with a triple-double in a 78-61 victory over Pensacola in a Panhandle Conference women's basketball game Saturday night.
Montgomery added 15 points and 16 rebounds, and she shattered her previous record of eight blocks in a game set as a freshman in November 2012 against Southwest Tennessee. GC piled up 20 blocked shots between Montgomery, Dominique Powell and Chelsey Gibson.
“We set a goal of 10, but between our three bigs we got 20,” Lady Commodores coach Vernette Skeete said. “That's amazing.”
Montgomery's performance helped overshadow another shaky second half by Gulf Coast, which led by 23 points at halftime but allowed the Lady Pirates to climb back into contention after the break. GC endured letdowns in the second halves of respective losses to Chipola and Northwest Florida State in the past two weeks.
The Lady Commodores improved to 18-2 overall and wrapped up the first of three rounds of conference play with a 2-2 mark. GC pulled within a game of second place after Panhandle leader Chipola defeated NWF State 55-45 in Marianna on Saturday.
GC led Pensacola 46-23 at halftime, but the Lady Pirates blitzed GC with a 7-0 run over the first three-plus minutes of the second half. After a Gibson free throw gave the Lady Commodores a 49-30 advantage, Pensacola (10-11, 0-4) reeled off a 10-2 spurt to pull within 51-40 on Mariah Hopkins’ layup.
The Lady Pirates climbed within 62-54 on Tyisha Moore’s layup with six minutes left, but Montgomery scored seven of GC's final 16 points down the stretch.
Gulf Coast dominated for an eight-minute stretch early in the first half and outscored the Lady Pirates 22-2 in that span to build a 31-8 cushion. Pensacola climbed within 35-21, but the Lady Commodores ended the half on an 11-2 run.
Gibson scored a team-high 16 points for the Lady Commodores, and Jessica Morton added 13.
Moore led all scorers with 19 points for Pensacola, and Alexis Horton contributed 12.
The game featured 48 personal fouls, and three players fouled out — two from Pensacola and one from GC. The teams combined for 65 free throws. The Lady Commodores made 18 of 35 attempts from the foul line, and Pensacola converted 15 of 30.
Gulf Coast enjoys a mid-week bye before hosting Chipola on Saturday at the Billy Harrison Field House.
PENSACOLA (61)
Jones 0 5-8 5, Pollnitz 4 0-0 9, Jordan 3 2-4 8, Hopkins 2 0-0 4, Perdue 0 2-2 2, Dickerson 0 0-0 0, Horton 4 3-9 12, Moore 8 3-5 19, Clay 1 0-2 2. Totals 22 15-30 61.
GULF COAST (78)
Earl 4 0-2 9, Morton 5 3-4 13, Shaw 3 3-4 9, Feagin 2 1-2 5, Rosier 1 0-2 3, Gibson 6 4-8 16, Powell 3 2-4 8, Montgomery 5 5-9 15. Totals 29 18-35 78.
Halftime: Gulf Coast 46, Pensacola 23. Three-point goals: Pen 2 (Pollnitz, Horton), GC 2 (Earl, Rosier). Total fouls: Pen 24, GC 24. Fouled out: Jordan, Clay, Feagin.