Eagles battle but come up short vs. Chipola

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (January 4, 2020) – Region 8 No. 10 Tallahassee Community College dropped its Panhandle Conference opener on Saturday, falling 57-45 to NJCAA NJCAA No. 6/Region 8 No. 3 Chipola College. 

Tallahassee (0-1 PC) is now 9-6 on the season. Chipola (1-0) improved to 16-1. 

Chipola jumped on the Eagles right out of the gate. Three straight threes by Isadora Sousa then consecutive baskets from Ariel Cummings resulted in a 13-0 lead for the visitors with 4:25 left in the quarter. A basket by Sedayjha Payne finally got Tallahassee on the board at the 4:03 mark of the first, and two free throws from Rushell Jacob cut the deficit to single digits (13-4) 13 seconds later. 

Chipola stretched the lead back to 21-7 at the end of one before a defensive battle ensued over the next ten minutes. 

The teams combined for just 15 points in the second, and the Eagles had held Chipola to 1-for-20 shooting the quarter before Caitlyn Wilson's three at the buzzer gave the Indians a 28-15 lead at intermission. 

Chipola opened up a 23-point lead, 44-21, on another Sousa three-pointer with 3:21 left in the third quarter, and the Indians led 46-27 at the end of the quarter. After Ariel Cummings opened the fourth-quarter scoring by hitting one of two at the line to push the lead back to 20, Tallahassee mounted a comeback. 

Rita James' three started a brief 7-0 run that got the Eagles within 13. After Chipola stretched the margin back to 17, Tallahassee went on a 9-0 run. 

After Polina Nikulochkina capped the run with a three-pointer with 4:45 left, her sister, Ana, forced a turnover in the backcourt and found Polina for another open three-point attempt. The shot was off the mark and that's as close as the Eagles got. 

Both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket. After shooting 8-for-15 in the first quarter, Chipola was just 10-for-60 the rest of the way and shot 24.0 percent (18-of-75) for the game. Tallahassee made just 16-of-67 attempts (23.9 percent). 

Payne led Tallahassee with 12 points. Polina Nikulochkina had 11. 

The Eagles will return to action on January 11 when they travel to Northwest Florida State College. Game time is 6:30 p.m.