Defense ignites the No. 1 Raiders in 69-49 victory over No. 6 Chipola

 NICEVILLE, FL - Go to any Bart Walker practice and you will quickly find out that if you can't play defense, you won't see the floor.  On Thursday evening in Raider Arena, Coach Walker's squad convincingly earned their playing time with incredible an defensive effort in route to a 69-49 win over rival Chipola College.

It didn't take long for the #1 Raiders to set the tone, limiting the Indians to just 9 points in the first quarter and rode that momentum to a 39-27 advantage at halftime.  Last-Tear Poa was nearly perfect in the first 20 minutes, scoring 13 points on 3-4 shooting from the field and made all 6 of her free-throw attempts.

Poa and the Raiders didn't let up on the gas in the second half.  Chipola made their runs, as you'd expect from the #6-ranked team in the country.  But with every Indian spark, the NWF had the answers and responses to keep their rival at bay. Whether it was a key steal, forced turnover, or timely bucket, the Raiders had it in their arsenal to pull away late to secure the 20-point victory.

For the second consecutive ball game, Last-Tear led NWF in scoring with 26 points.  Ines Piper chipped in with 9 points and 5 rebounds and Shelbee Brown made her presence felt again down low with 8 points and 9 rebounds.

The Raiders (16-0, 2-0) will next be in action when they travel to Tallahassee Community College on Saturday for a 2:00pm (eastern) start, 1:00pm (central).

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