Tallahassee women seek to bounce back in Collegiate Girls Basketball Report Classic

By James Harden
TCC Sports Information

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (November 8, 2013) --  The Tallahassee Community College women's basketball team hopes to get back on track with a pair of wins in this weekend's Collegiate Girls Basketball Report Classic, hosted by Chipola College. The season got off to a great start last weekend with a convincing 72-61 win over Hillsborough Community College but was followed up by a 65-50 loss to St. Petersburg College.

Now 1-1, the Eagles have dropped two spots to No. 7 in the Florida College System Activities Association's (FCSAA) Women's Basketball Coaches' Poll, receiving 55 points in this week's poll. However, the Tallahassee women are poised to redeem themselves in Marianna, Fla., as they face off with Darton (Ga.) State College on Friday, November 8. The game is slated for an 11 a.m. eastern tip-off.

The Eagles look to take notes from their first win of the season against Hillsborough to help them tame the National Junior College Athletic Association's (NJCAA) No. 10 ranked Lady Cavaliers of Darton State. While Tallahassee's women lead the all-time series with a record of 5-0, the two teams haven't played since 2009 when Tallahassee beat Darton State, 61- 50.

Under new leadership, Darton State saw great success last year and advanced to the national tournament for the first time in more than a decade. In addition to winning the Region 17 title and the District J Championship, they also went undefeated at home and set a school record for wins, ending the season 33-4.  In just her third season, head coach Lea Henry has her team on a roll having started the season 2-0 with wins against Southern Union (Ala.) State Community College and West Georgia Technical College.

On November 9, the Tallahassee women will play Santa Fe College at 11 a.m. eastern in their second game of the event. Tallahassee hopes to extend its lead in the series having defeated the Saints 15 of the 23 times the two teams have played. The Saints, currently ranked No. 9 in the FCSAA, play Tallahassee a total of three times this year in the regular season. Therefore, this rivalry stands to grow richer and richer in tradition. The Saints upset the Eagles during their last meeting, edging out Tallahassee, 57-55.

Sante Fe won their first two games of the year, beating East Georgia State College,76-58, and Miami Dade College, 81-78.

Saturday's game is shaping up to be a good competitive match – over the first two games of the season the Saints have a backcourt of Tori Baggett and Stephanie Bell that is averaging 17.5 and 16.5 points, respectively, while the Tallahassee women are ranked No.9 in the NJCAA in three-point percentage, shooting better than 40% from long distance.