Lady Raiders Clinch 5th Straight Panhandle Conference Championship

NICEVILLE, Fla. - Northwest Florida Lady Raiders clinched their 5th straight Panhandle Conference Championship this afternoon after defeating #6 Gulf Coast 69-63 in Raider Arena! 

The Raiders came out flat to start the game, being down 23-13 after the first quarter. Coach Bart Walker woke up the squad in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to 4 points at the intermission. When the 4th quarter came around, the Raiders were down 3 points. Northwest Florida came out firing and could not be stopped as they were 6-9 from the field in the final 10 minutes and went 8-10 from the free throw line. On the night, Northwest Florida finished 26-52 from the field and 15-24 from the charity stripe.

Zayla Tinner led the Raiders offense tonight with 25 points on 9-11 shooting. Tinner also recorded 7 rebounds and 2 steals. In the last 6 games, Tinner is averaging 17.8 points/game. Sakima Walker accounted for 19 points and a team-high 9 rebounds. Destiney McPhaul chipped in 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. The Raiders only led for 9 minutes of the game tonight compared to Gulf Coast leading for over 27 minutes but, the Raiders took over when it counted most.

#7 Northwest Florida finished the regular season at 23-3, 11-1 in Panhandle Conference play. The Raiders will have 10 days off until they look to defend their FCSAA Region 8 State Championship in Raider Arena. 

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