Women's basketball team makes history, knocks off NWF

The Eastern Florida State College women's basketball team made history on Thursday night, knocking off No. 1 seed Northwest Florida State College in the quarterfinals of the FCSAA Championship in Niceville.

The Titans, who are the No. 8 seed, became the first No. 8 seed to advance into Friday's semifinal with the 59-51 victory.

"They call it March Madness for a reason, it is madness. The ladies took the scout personal, they took being the 8 seed to heart and people said we shouldn't be here, we can't beat them. They are the defending national champions. But they came in with the right attitude and were tough. I am so proud of them," Eastern Florida State College women's basketball coach Zack Banks said.

The Titans had to win their final game of the regular season and get a bit of help just to get into the tournament as the No. 8 seed and now they will play for a spot in the championship game on Friday night.

It was a combination of stifling defense and some clutch shooting that propelled the Titans against the No. 3 ranked Raiders who had not lost in eight games.

Eastern Florida State College's Grace Strickland got things started with her first of three 3-pointers in the first half as the sophomore guard finished with four.

Ofir Parpara hit a 3-pointer late in the quarter to give the Titans a 13-point lead. They would head to the second quarter leading 17-6.

Northwest Florida State College cut into the lead in the second quarter but another big 3-pointer by Parpara late in the quarter gave them a 27-21 lead at halftime.

The third quarter saw the Raiders cut the lead to two, 28-26 but the Titans scored six of the next eight points and headed to the fourth quarter leading 42-35.

A 3-pointer early in the fourth by Angela Mirkovic gave the Titans some breathing room and Shadia Lara Santacruz hit two big free throws to lock up the victory.

"We were just really excited to play the No. 1 seed and have the opportunity to take them down, we took it," Strickland said. "Words can't describe how I feel, we were excited to get here and so to take down the No. 1 team and for coach, that was his old team so it was personal and am glad we could do that."

It is the fifth straight year that the Titans have played in the semifinals of the FCSAA Championship.

The Titans will face fourth-seeded Gulf Coast State College who defeated No. 5 seed Florida Southwestern 87-59 in the second semifinal at 9 p.m. EDT.