Lady Eagles hang on to upset Chipola

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (January 22, 2013) - FCSAA No. 4/NJCAA No. 19 Tallahassee Community College won its second straight game on Tuesday evening, handing No. 2/No. 9 Chipola College a 63-61 loss in Panhandle Conference women's basketball action at the Bill Hebrock Eagledome.

After an 0-3 start in PC play, back-to-back wins has vaulted Tallahassee (13-6, 2-3) right back into postseason contention. Although still in fourth place in the PC standings, the Lady Eagles, by night's end on Wednesday, will be within a game of second place, which will be shared by Chipola (18-3, 3-2) and the loser of tomorrow night's first-place battle between Gulf Coast State College and Northwest Florida State College.

Trailing by two with eight seconds remaining, Chipola had possession of the ball and a chance to either tie the game or take the lead with a three-pointer. The Lady Indians opted for the former but Alexis Grant got her hands on a Jasmine Crawford pass - Addesha Collins picked up the loose ball and ran out the final two seconds.

Tallahassee's final defensive stand capped a wild second half - one that saw Chipola pull within two points on six different occasions.

The Lady Eagles led 32-29 at the intermission and increased their lead to ten (52-42) just past the midway point of the second half following a basket by Grant. Three minutes later, Grant turned a Chipola turnover into two points to keep Tallahassee's lead at nine, 59-50, with 6:18 remaining.

After seven unanswered points brought Chipola within a basket, 59-57, Tallahassee turned away four opportunities for the Lady Indians to either tie the game or take the lead in the final 3:33.

Jeraldine Campbell scored 17 points to lead a trio of Lady Eagles in double-figures. Sofia da Silva and Grant added 12 points each.

Rayven Brooks scored 24 points and pulled down 16 rebounds before fouling out to pace Chipola, who also got 14 points from Kristine Brance and 12 from Crawford.

Tallahassee came out of the gates firing, hitting nine of its first 11 shots en route to a 28-11 lead with 6:42 left in the first half. After swapping field goals, Chipola scored eight straight points and closed the half on a 16-2 run. Brooks' three-pointer finished the scoring and sent Tallahassee to the locker room clinging to a three-point lead.

Tallahassee played, arguably, its best half of the season in the first 20 minutes, hitting 16-of-28 shots from the floor and outrebounding Chipola, 20-14.

The Lady Eagles are off until January 30 when they'll travel to Panama City, Fla., to face Gulf Coast State.