#TCCBasketball: Eagle women squeak past NWF State

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (January 21, 2017) – Tallahassee Community College's women's basketball team pulled out an 80-75 win over Northwest Florida State College on Saturday evening in Panhandle Conference action. 

Tallahassee, ranked No. 3 in Region 8 and No. 11 by the NJCAA, evened its PC record at 2-2 and is 17-3 overall. The Eagles also gained sole possession of third place in the PC standings by virtue of the win and Chipola College's 80-66 victory over Pensacola State College. 

No. 6/No. 15 Northwest Florida State (14-5) is now 1-3 in league play. 

Tallahassee led by as many as 13 points with 2:04 left in the first half and took a 41-31 lead to the locker room, but the Raiders clawed their way back into the game with a strong third quarter. 

Northwest Florida State cut Tallahassee's lead in half with a 22-17 advantage in the third and pulled within a bucket (58-56) on Jade Lewis' three-pointer, just seconds into the fourth quarter. 

The Raiders forced the first of four fourth quarter ties at 63-all at the 5:56 mark. With the game knotted at 69-69, Lindsay John's three-pointer put the Eagles ahead to stay, 72-69, with 4:14 remaining. 

It wasn't until Japonica James connected on a pair of free throws with 36 seconds left that the Eagles had a two-possession lead, 76-72. A Northwest Florida State turnover eventually resulted in more free throws for the Eagles. 

Jas Hill missed a pair but Janessa Murphy came up with the offensive rebound and hit her two shots to extend the Eagles' lead to six. 

Berniezha Tidwell's desperation three-pointer with four seconds left brought the Raiders to within three and forced the Eagles back to the foul line, where Murphy finally iced the game, hitting both shots. 

She finished with 10 points. 

Hill led Tallahassee with 21 points. James had 18 points and Lawriel Wilson scored 13. 

Tallahassee will return to action on Tuesday when it hosts Pensacola State College at 5:30 p.m.