NWF Basketball Hosts Tallahassee Saturday

NICEVILLE, Fla. – Northwest Florida returns to Raider Arena Saturday to host Tallahassee in Panhandle Conference play. The women kick things off at 5:30 p.m. and the men take the court at 7:30 p.m.

The games will be streamed online at EmeraldCoastTV.com or fans can watch on their Roku or Amazon Fire devices by downloading the Emerald Coast TV app.

The women are coming off a tough 60-53 loss at Chipola on Wednesday. The Raiders (15-3, 0-2 PC) shot 36.7 percent from the floor, 51.9 percent from the free throw line, and turned the ball over 26 times in the loss, the team's third in a row. Chanaya Pinto scored eight of her team-best 15 points from the charity stripe and pulled down 10 rebounds to complete the double-double. Fapou Semebene finished with a game-high 12 boards.

Tallahassee's women (9-6, 0-1) fell to the same Chipola squad on Jan. 4, the team's lone conference game so far. The Eagles are led offensively by Polina Nikulochkina, who is averaging 18.5 points per game, fourth-most in the league.

Northwest Florida men's basketball (12-6, 0-2 PC) also fell at Chipola on Wednesday. The Raiders shot just 31.7 percent from the floor but got double digit performances from Marseilles Caston (14) and Jourdan Smith (12). NWF has won 10 straight games over Tallahassee in Raider Arena.

Tallahassee (17-2, 1-0) lead the conference shooting 41.9 percent from beyond the arc and have the league's top defense allowing just 63.5 points per game. El Ellis paces the squad with 14.3 points and 4.4 assists per game.

For more information on Northwest Florida athletics, visit NWFRaiders.com or follow us on Twitter at @NWF_Raiders.