Northwest Florida’s offensive struggles lead to 58-43 road loss at Gulf Coast

PANAMA CITY, FL - The beginning of the third round for the 2022 Panhandle Conference schedule was not a kind introduction for #3 Northwest Florida. The Raiders traveled to conference foe Gulf Coast for the second time this season on Saturday.  The first trip was a success for NWF.  The second journey….not so much.  It was a struggle all afternoon for the defending national champions, especially on the offensive end.  As a result, the Raiders dropped their second game of the season to the hands of the host Commodores 58-43 to move their record to 21-2 overall and 6-2 in conference play.

Right out of the gate, NWF jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead and looked primed for sterling performance.  Back to back 3-point baskets by Gulf Coast just moments later gave the home team a momentum spark that quickly acted like kindling to a fire.  The Raiders did not score for the next 7 minutes and seemed to be out of sorts for the remainder of the game.

Factoring largely into the Raider loss was a very poor shooting performance in all three phases (FG %, 3-pt FG %, and FT %).  NWF shot just 30% from the field for the game and 46% from the free-throw line, both season lows.  Couple that with 16 turnovers and being outrebounded 34-20 and it's easy to see why the Raiders had an uphill battle all afternoon.

Northwest Florida did not go quietly in the fourth quarter.  Midway through the period, the Raiders seemed to build some momentum with several consecutive defensive stops and big baskets by Noelani Cornfield and Ines Piper.  But Gulf Coast answered with a mini 6-0 run that squalled the Raider comeback for good.

Cornfield and Piper led the Raiders in scoring with 17 and 14 points respectively. 

NWF will look to get back on track on Wednesday, February 9^th when they host Chipola at 5:30 p.m. 

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