Lady Raiders fall to TCC, 60-54
1/31/2010 – NWF State women lose again
By ADAM ROSENBERG Northwest Florida Daily News 315-4484 | arosenberg@nwfdailynews.com
TALLAHASSEE For the first 28 minutes of Saturday's game, it looked like the No. 13 Northwest Florida State College women's basketball team was on track to end its painful losing streak and take over third place in the Panhandle Conference. But then, as has been the case for much the past two weeks, the Raiders couldn't find a way to pry the lid off the basket.
After leading by as many as nine points, the Raiders' shooters went cold, allowing No. 11 Tallahassee Community College to climb back into the game and eventually hang on for a 60-54 win at The Eagledome.
The Eagles (15-6, 3-4 in Panhandle Conference) went on a 16-0 run starting with 12:17 left to play, holding NWF State (14-5, 1-5) scoreless for over six minutes. The Raiders once again got plenty of good looks at the basket, but simply couldn't get most of them to fall.
NWF State found itself in a hole before the game started, as second-leading scorer Josette Campbell was unavailable after twisting an ankle toward the end of Friday's practice. Campbell was averaging 14.4 points per game, so her presence would certainly have been a big lift offensively.
"(Campbell) is a player with conference experience, so having her certainly would have helped," said NWF State coach Bart Walker. "We would have liked to have her tonight, but all that means is someone else needs to step up."
In addition to Campbell's absence, the Raiders had to contend with the shooting struggles of leading scorer Shamar Harris, who went 0-for-8 from the floor in the first half while scoring just one point. She rebounded to score nine points in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers that kept the Raiders in the game.
The Raiders overcame Harris' struggles thanks to Shavonne Seymore's 20 points, nine of which came in the first half. They built their halftime lead on a 9-0 run to end the first half. Still, the Raiders shot 32 percent from the floor in the first half as a team, on their way to finishing the game with the same percentage.
"I just think we're all pressing," Walker said. "We're taking the first open look, which may not even be a bad look. But we could be patient and try to get a higher quality look."
However, Tallahassee mounted a furious charge behind several key buckets by Bentley. When Harris finally stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer with 6:11 to play, the Raiders were already down five. NWF State had some chances to pull closer at the free-throw line, but finished just 9-for-21 from the stripe.
The Eagles, meanwhile, went 24-for-35 from the line. That major discrepancy in free throws provided the difference for Tallahassee.
"Those are just repetition shots and we should have gotten them to fall," Walker said. "If we make a few more, that certainly would have made it much more manageable for us."