Strong Defense Leads Raiders over Shelton State 59-51

LUBBOCK, TX - Northwest Florida never skipped a beat despite being off for 12 days as the Raiders cruised to a 59-51 victory over #9 Shelton State. The Raiders were up as much as 17 points midway through the 4th quarter until the Bucs scored the final 9 points of the game to cut the deficit down to single digits.

In the 1st half, Sakima Walker was forced to watch from the sideline as she picked up two early fouls. Despite the 6'5 center being on the court for only 8 minutes, the Raiders had built a 30-24 lead heading into intermission. Destiney McPhaul helped the Raiders built that 6 point lead in the first half as she played all 20 minutes and tallied 9 points, including knocking down 2 threes. 

The Raiders collectively shot 46.3% from the field and held Shelton State to 18-61 (29.5%). Sakima Walker led Northwest Florida with 16 points on 7-9 shooting, followed by Destiney McPhaul with 15 and Zayla Tinner with 14. McPhaul was the team leader in rebounds with 8 and Tinner dished out 6 assists.

Coach Bart Walker's defense showed up in Lubbock tonight as the Raiders held Shelton State to their 3rd lowest points on the year, and the lowest since November 5th when the Bucs were held to 48 points vs. FSW. Shelton State's 29.5 FG% was their 2nd lowest on the year. Although Northwest Florida only forced 9 turnovers, their lockdown defense forced a lot of bad shots from the Buccaneers.

With the win this afternoon, Northwest Florida improved to 26-4 on the year. The Raiders will face #1 South Georgia Technical College (33-1) in the Elite 8 on Saturday, March 25th at 1:00 PM. The Lady Jets suffered their lone loss on the year to Gulf Coast State College in the season opener on November 2nd 76-61. South Georgia Tech defeated #17 Moberly Area College earlier today 54-49. The Lady Jets are averaging 72.9 points per game and shooting 45.4% from the field. 

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