Poa and Brown lead the No. 1 Raiders to victory over Gulf Coast

PANAMA CITY, FL - Life in the Panhandle Conference is never easy.  Look no further than the No. 1 Raiders league debut on the road at Gulf Coast State College.  The defending national champions and their undefeated record were thoroughly challenged for 40 minutes but made winning plays down the stretch to secure a 74-68 victory to improve their record to 15-0 overall and 1-0 in in the Panhandle. 

A collective exhale could be heard from the Raider bench after late free-throws sealed the win.  The game featured 12 lead changes and 8 ties, with neither team ever leading by double figures.

A back and forth first half and late Commodore run found the Raiders trailing 33-28 at intermission.  Once the ball was inbounded at the start of the second half, Last-Tear Poa and Shelbee Brown hit another gear and put the Raiders on their back on both ends of the court.

Poa led all scorers with 28 points thanks to an attacking mentality that saw her go to the free-throw line 18 times, making 17 of the attempts.  Brown was a force inside and made numerous clutch plays in route to scoring 24 points and snatching 11 rebounds. 

The Raiders, on a short turnaround, will next be in action on Thursday, January 6^th when they host #6 Chipola for their Panhandle Conference home opener at 5:30pm.

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