Women's basketball team opens tourney with thrilling victory

The Eastern Florida State College women's basketball team finished with a flurry, defeating No. 4 seed Gulf Coast State College in the quarterfinals of the FCSAA Division I Tournament Wednesday night in Niceville.

The Titans, the No. 5 seed in the tournament, were down eight points with four minutes and three seconds remaining but hit some big shots down the stretch to pull off the 80-75 victory and send No. 13 Gulf Coast State College home early at Northwest Florida State College.

Down 70-62, the Titans went on a 10-0 run capped off by a 3-pointer by Karen Nimo to give the Titans a 72-70 lead. Gulf Coast would hit a 3-pointer to regain the lead but again it was Nimo with a huge 3-pointer to give the Titans a four-point lead with 45 seconds remaining.

From there, E'Zaria Adams and Jalei O'Neal hit free throws to preserve the win.

The Titans came out with an aggressive style they had not shown all season as everyone on the roster played in the game. And it worked as they led for much of the first half behind the offensive play of Adams and Nimo.

Adams, who received her All-FCSAA Team plaque before the game, played like one of the best players in the state scoring 10 of her 14 points in the first half as the Titans led 35-32 at halftime.

The third quarter saw Gulf Coast State College take as much aas a four-point lead and led by three heading to the fourth quarter.

For much of the fourth quarter the Commodores were in control, but the Titans kept battling for every loose ball and rebound.

O'Neal finished with 15 points and six rebounds while Ashleigh Battle had 12 to go with four assists and two steals. The Titans bench outscored Gulf Coast State College 31-17 and hit 19 of their 26 free throws.

"A huge team win against a well-coached, nationally-ranked opponent," Eastern Florida State College women's basketball coach MJ Baker said. "Every player stepped up and executed their role. Now all eyes are on Northwest Florida as we shift our focus and prepare for the next challenge."

Eastern Florida State College will advance to the semifinals for the fourth straight year and will face No. 1 seed and host Northwest Florida State College Friday in the semifinal. The two teams have met in four of the past five tournaments with the Raiders winning three of the four meetings.

Northwest Florida State College defeated No. 8 seed Hillsborough Community College 72-57 in the third game of the day.

The other semifinal will be between No. 2 seed Chipola College and No. 3 seed Florida Southwestern State College.

The first semifinal will begin at 2 p.m. with the Titans-Raiders game scheduled for 4 p.m. EDT on Friday.