Top seed falls in NJCAA Tournament quarterfinals
Sakima Walker supplied 22 points and 11 rebounds and No. 8 seed Northwest Florida State upset No. 1 seed South Georgia Technical 72-61 in Saturday's quarterfinals of the women's basketball NJCAA Tournament at the Rip Griffin Center.
Destiny McPhaul added 17 points and Zayla Tinner 15 for the Raiders, who were down 40-25 at halftime and trailed by 17 points in the second half.
Northwest Florida (27-4) will play a semifinal at 4 p.m. Sunday against No. 4 seed College of Southern Idaho (31-2). The only other loss for South Georgia Tech (33-2) came in the Lady Jets' season opener to Gulf Coast State, who was eliminated from the national tournament Friday night.
Down by 17 midway through the third, Northwest Florida coach Bart Walker put the Raiders in a full-court press that caused problems for South Georgia Tech. McPhaul made three 3-point goals at the end of the third quarter that helped narrow the gap to 51-47.
In the fourth quarter, the momentum stayed with the Raiders as they scored six more points to take a 53-51 lead and kept South Georgia Tech from connecting on a field goal for more than 9 minutes.
Alexia Dizeko and Susana Yepes scored 19 and 18 points, respectively, for South Georgia Tech.
E. Florida State 82
Wabash Valley 77
Shadaria Smith and Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu poured in personal season highs of 24 points apiece and No. 2 seed Eastern Florida State punched its ticket to the NJCAA Tournament semifinals for the first time with a win against No. 7 seed Wabash Valley.
Ozzy-Momodu added a season-high 18 rebounds for Eastern Florida (33-1), which will play a semifinal at 6 p.m. Sunday against Trinity Valley Community College (33-2).
The outcome snapped a 31-game win streak for Wabash Valley (31-2), an Illinois school. Brooklyn Gray had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Wabash Valley, and Madison Roshelle scored 19 points.
Leilani Guion added 17 points for Eastern Florida, five in the final minute helping to ice the victory.
Southern Idaho 79, Blinn 64
Alyssa Christensen led the Golden Eagles with 16 points and Tylie Jones added 15, giving Southern Idaho its first berth in the semifinals since the tournament moved to Lubbock in 2016.
Southern Idaho (31-2) will face 2021 national champion Northwest Florida State (27-4) at 4 p.m. Sunday for a berth in the national title game.
Kali Haizlip chipped in 12 points for the Golden Eagles.
Blinn closed within 49-46 on a 9-0 run late in the third quarter but could not close the gap completely. Then Christensen scored 10 of her points in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back 3-point goals with under four minutes to play to put the game out of reach. For good measure, the Golden Eagles sealed the game by going 11 for 13 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
Hannah Humphrey led Blinn (31-4) with 14 points. Tiffany Tullis had 13 and Makayla Patterson 11.
Trinity Valley 84, Jones 61
Brianna Peguero led four Trinity Valley Community College players in double-figure scoring with 19 points and Abby Cater chipped in 15 as the Lady Cardinals beat Jones College in the last quarterfinal game.
Trinity Valley (33-2) advances to the semifinals on Sunday to face Eastern Florida State (33-1) at 6 p.m. The Lady Cardinals are seeking their ninth national championship and a berth in the title game for the ninth time in the last 11 years.
After Jones (26-4) got three quick points to start the third quarter, Peguero made sure any confidence gained by the Lady Bobcats was short-lived, draining a 3-point goal from deep behind the top of the key, then adding a layup and a three-point play for her own personal 8-0 run. That grew to a 15-1 run later in the quarter that all but salted the game away for the Lady Cardinals.
Makiya McCollister added 14 points and Ashanti Barnes netted 10 for the Lady Cardinals.
En'Dya Buford led Jones, a Mississippi school, with 15 points. Meloney Thames and Arianna Patton had 13 each for the Lady Bobcats. The 61 points were 22 below the Lady Bobcats' season average.
Friday's late games
Trinity Valley 73
McLennan 50
Briana Peguero had 16 points, Ashanti Barnes added 12 points and 10 rebounds and No. 3 seed Trinity Valley Community College put away No. 14 seed McLennan Community College in an round-of-16 showdown of Texas teams at the Rip Griffin Center.
Emani Jenkins added 11 points and Abby Carter 10 for Trinity Valley, which outscored McLennan 27-4 from late in the first quarter into the second.
Jaydyn Bullard scored 11 points to lead the Highlassies (28-5).
Jones College 71
Gulf Coast State 69
Sakyia White hit a contested layup at the buzzer, and No. 6 seed Jones College survived against No. 11 seed and perennial national contender Gulf Coast State in the last round-of-16 game.
White's game winner gave her 19 points to go along with 17 rebounds.
En'Dya Buford added a game-high 20 points for the Bobcats and Meloney Thames chipped in 17.
Gulf Coast (25-5) tied the game with 1.2 seconds to play on a three-point play by Tasionna McDowell.
The Commodores had their best chance at pulling the upset when they came out and scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to take a 55-49 lead with 7:26 to play, four of those points coming from Ciante Downs, who led Gulf Coast with 13 points.
The Commodores tied the game 66-66 on a 3-point goal by Alieghya Bartholomew with 30 seconds left. Buford then added three free throws to push the lead back to 69-66. Gulf Coast missed a chance to tie or take the lead when Bartholomew lost the ball out of bounds with 16.9 to play. But that just set up the dramatics for both sides.
NJCAA TOURNAMENT
at Rip Griffin Center
(Seedings, records in parentheses)
Round of 16
Thursday's Results
South Georgia Tech 54, Moberly Area 49
Northwest Florida State 59, Shelton State 51
Eastern Florida State 73, Walters State 45
Wabash Valley 60, Cochise 57
Friday's Results
Southern Idaho 61, New Mexico Junior College 58
Blinn College 80, North Dakota State College of Science 63
Trinity Valley Community College 73, McLennan Community College 50
Jones College 71, Gulf Coast State 69
Saturday's Results
Quarterfinals
Northwest Florida State 72, South Georgia Tech 61
Eastern Florida State 82, Wabash Valley 77
Southern Idaho 79, Blinn 64
Trinity Valley 84, Jones 61
Sunday's Games
Semifinals
Northwest Florida State (8) (27-4) vs. Southern Idaho (4) (31-2), 4 p.m.
Eastern Florida State (2) (33-1) vs. Trinity Valley (3) (33-2), 6 p.m.
Monday's Game
Championship
Semifinals winners, 8 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: NJCAA Tournament roundup: Top seed falls in national quarterfinals
