Women's College Basketball: Pensacola State can't overcome cold start in loss to NWF State

A second half filled with steals and defensive pressure gave the No. 16-ranked Pensacola State College women’s basketball team a chance against a conference foe Wednesday night.

However, that surge wasn’t enough to overcome poor shooting and a Northwest Florida State College team that couldn’t miss at times in the opening half.

Trailing 38-20 at halftime and as many as 21 points in the third quarter, the Pirates rallied before ultimately falling 59-50 to the No. 4 Raiders during a Panhandle Conference contest from Hartsell Arena.

The loss dropped PSC’s record to 2-2 in conference play and 15-6 overall.

“My main takeaway is as a team, we have to do a better job of coming out and jumping out on them in the first half,” PSC sophomore forward Ja’Miyah Bryant said. “We dug ourselves a hole that unfortunately we weren’t able to get out of.”

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The visitors gained their separation thanks to a 14-2 surge in the second quarter. Northview Florida sophomore guard Ronaltha Marc poured in baskets on three straight possessions before sophomore guard Zayla Tinner capped the run with a layup to make it 32-14.

The home team was hampered by an offense that couldn’t create easy baskets, push the ball in transition or play with much tempo. But it suffered most from a lack of patience in the half-court. Far too often, the Pirates settled for quick possessions that featured two or three passes before taking a perimeter shot or driving for a contested attempt in the lane.

“That kind of plays into what Northwest Florida wants you to do,” PSC head coach Clenita Belford said. “They kind of play a little bit of a sagging (man-to-man defense), kind of forcing you to take outside shots and not getting into the paint and penetrating. The first half we kind of played victim to that.”

Pensacola State clawed back into the contest thanks to its ball pressure that forced 15 of 26 Raiders turnovers in the second half.

While Bryant got her hands on entry passes into the post, sophomore guards Deborrah Redmon and Douthshine Prien caused havoc at the top of the key by either interception passes or picking the pocket of Raiders ball-handlers. The trio combined for 13 steals.

Back-to-back layups off turnovers from Bryant and freshman guard Nataya Lockett closed the Pirates’ deficit to 57-48 late in the fourth, but the hosts would not get closer.

Thanks to several breakaway layups, PSC went 13-for-27 shooting from the field (48 percent) in the second half. That’s compared to making just 6 of 28 attempts from the floor (21 percent) in the first 20 minutes.

“The second half was awesome.” Belford said. “We outscored them in the third and fourth quarter, but we didn’t start as well as we should have.”

Pensacola State also didn’t help itself from the charity stripe. The team went 9-for-20 shooting from the free-throw line. Conversely, Northwest Florida made 13 of 14 attempts. Overall, the visitors made 52 percent of their field-goal attempts.

Marc paced the Raiders with 16 points. Lockett had a game-high 21 points for PSC.

Here's three takeaways from Wednesday's contest from Pensacola.

Defense to offense

Due in part to desperation, the Pirates displayed what Belford calls the team’s “bread and butter.”

Pensacola State is ranked second in NJCAA Region 8 at 12.5 steals per game.

Redmon and Prien, who each ranked in the top-10 in steals, are the players spurring on the ball pressure. Redmon (2.5 spg) is ranked sixth in the league while Prien (2.2 spg) is ninth.

“They’re the main ones that get it going for us as far as defending the other team’s best ball handlers and best guards,” Belford said. “If there’s a guard that’s averaging the most points, we normally give that assignment to one of them and they do whatever they can to shut whoever that may be down.”

PSC’s defense is its team’s strength, and at times on Wednesday, it was the best source of offense. Pensacola State scored 14 of its 30 second-half points off turnovers.

Overall, the Pirates hold the league’s fifth best defense, relinquishing 57.5 points per game.

'You have to show up every night and compete'

Spending her freshman year at Daytona State after a successful prep career at Booker T. Washington, Bryant carries the load on the back end of the PSC defense. She averages 9.7 rebounds per game, which is good for fourth in the league.

The sophomore forward is also one of eight Pirates who are in their first seasons with the program, thus experiencing the uber-competitive Panhandle Conference for the first time.

“I feel like this league is pretty tough. Everybody in this league and every team that we play is good,” Bryant said. “Coach B, she pushes us to be better everyday, especially in practice. No off days, we’re going at it at practice every day preparing us for games. This league is tough, but it pushes us to be better.”

Northview Florida (15-2, 3-0 in PC) is the only unbeaten team in the conference. No. 6 Gulf State College has won 17 of 18 games this season. The Commodores' lone loss came against another conference team: Chipola College.

“A lot of these girls have no idea,” Belford said. “They’ve heard so much about this league, they’ve heard that it’s the toughest one, but they really don’t know what to expect. So now that we’ve made it through the first round, I think they know what to expect now. … Hopefully this is a lesson learned that you have to show up every night and compete.”

Prien, Redmon and sophomore guard Ja’vine Jackson are PSC’s lone returners from last season’s squad.

Pensacola State next plays at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Chipola.

‘She’s just so loved and she’s so missed’

With family, friends and loved ones in attendance, Pensacola State College retired the jersey of Carla E. Williams during a ceremony following the women’s game.

The late Pirates great was shot and killed last May during an early morning workout at Pensacola Fitness in a suspected act of domestic violence. She was 48 years old.

Williams starred for the Pirates women's basketball team for two seasons, where she earned All-Conference and All-Region honors before attending Florida State University. She later returned to PSC, where she would spend 24 years serving as an assistant basketball coach as well as a member of the school's Collegiate High, Mathematics and Computer Science departments.

Now, her No. 22 will hang inside Hartsell Arena and never be worn by any PSC men’s and women’s basketball player again.

“Emotional. Just this whole thing has been very emotional,” Belford said. “PSC is doing a great job of honoring Carla. She’s just so loved and she’s so missed. Every time we play a home game and we walk by the scorer’s table, her presence is felt. It’s always felt, so this was very, very emotional.”

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The Carla Williams Memorial Endowed Scholarship was created in the wake of her passing. The scholarship will be awarded to female student-athletes.

In late September, Williams was posthumously inducted into the PSC Athletics Hall of Fame. She was the only person to represent the Class of 2022.

“Our family appreciates it. It lets us know how much they loved and cared for my sister as well,” said Pamela Williams, Carla’s sister. “She was a huge part of the school’s athletics and academics and she touched so many people’s lives. And for them to consistently honor her, it says a lot about how they felt about her.”

To contribute to the Carla Williams Memorial Endowed Scholarship, visit https://athletics.pensacolastate.edu/Carla-Williams-Memorial-Scholarship-Fund.

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (850) 503-3828, on Twitter @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Women's CBB: PSC's sluggish start costly vs. NWF, Williams' No. 22 retired