Second half surge sends Chipola past TCC women in PC opener
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Tallahassee (11-4,0-1) | 26 | 37 | 63 |
|
Chipola College (16-1,1-0) | 22 | 52 | 74 |
MARIANNA, Fla. (January 5, 2013) – NJCAA No. 12/FCSAA No. 3 Chipola College outscored No. 22/No. 4 Tallahassee Community College in the second half, 52-37, en route to a 74-63 win in Saturday's Panhandle Conference opener for both teams.
Chipola (1-0 PC) improved to 16-1 on the season while Tallahassee (0-1 PC), who dropped its 16th straight conference game dating back to 2011, is now 11-4.
For 20 minutes, the underdog Lady Eagles looked poised to pull the upset. They limited Chipola to just 8-of-33 (24.2 percent) shooting in the first half, forced 18 turnovers and controlled the glass to the tune of a 26-19 advantage in rebounds. All that translated to a 26-22 halftime lead.
But Chipola turned everything around in the final 20 minutes. Four quick three-pointers helped the Lady Indians surge to a 34-28 lead in the opening minutes of the second stanza. Then, leading 42-40, Chipola put the game away with a 21-4 run, including a trio of three-pointers from Rahni Bell, to take a 63-44 at the 7:00 mark.
After that, Tallahassee pulled within ten on three different occasions but that was as close as the Lady Eagles got.
Tallahassee shot a better percentage from the floor, hitting 24-of-57 (42.1 percent), compared to just 27-of-69 (39.1 percent) for the Lady Indians but Chipola enjoyed a big advantage from beyond the arc, knocking down a dozen three-pointers while Tallahassee hit just one.
Karley Barnes paced Tallahassee offensively with 14 points. She also recorded a team-high eight rebounds. Yanique Gordon came off the bench to score 13 and Sofia da Silva added 11.
Rayven Brooks led a quartet of double-figures scorers for Chipola with 19. Kristine Brance tossed in 18 while Lashonda Littleton scored 12 and Bell, 10.
Tallahassee will return to play next Saturday when it hosts Gulf Coast State College in its PC home opener at the Bill Hebrock Eagledome. Tip-off will be at 5:30 p.m. and the game will air live, courtesy of Panhandle Sports Broadcasting, at www.PSBlive.com.