NWF State teams down Gulf Coast
Jason Shoot | News Herald Writer
NICEVILLE — Fundamental breakdowns doomed the Gulf Coast women's basketball team in the second half Wednesday night.
Simone Westbrook pumped in a game-high 30 points to lead Northwest Florida State to a 91-77 victory over the Lady Commodores in a Panhandle Conference showdown.
GC lost its second game in its last three contests to fall to 17-2 overall and 1-2 in the Panhandle. The Lady Raiders won their eighth straight game and improved to 16-2 overall and 3-0 in the conference to keep pace with Chipola atop the Panhandle standings.
Jessica Morton led the Lady Commodores with 20 points and eight rebounds. Chelsey Gibson recored a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Chelsey Rosier added 13 and Angeline Earl 11.
The Lady Commodores led the entire game until Takisha Jordan knotted the score at 45-45 with a pair of free throws with just under 16 minutes remaining in the contest.
NWF State enjoyed a brief lead before Gibson's putback tied the game for GC at 57-all with 11:07 left. That bucket was the fifth shot attempt on that possession for the Lady Commodores and showcased their rebounding ability on the offensive end, a metric by which GC ranks 11th in the nation.
GC's eagerness to crash the boards exposed them down the stretch, however. NWF State players, most notably Westbrook, frequently leaked out on GC shot attempts, resulting in easy, uncontested layups on the opposite end of the floor.
Three consecutive layins in a 34-second span gave the Lady Raiders a 63-57 lead with 10:13 remaining, and GC never was able to regain the lead.
The Lady Raiders stretched the margin to as many as 13 points (87-74) in the game's final moments.
GC found itself in significant foul trouble in the first half but maintained a 39-36 lead at the break. Sophomores Kayla Montgomery and Dominique Powell each had three fouls in the first 20 minutes, and Gibson had two. Montgomery later fouled out, and three other GC players finished the game with four fouls.
Rosier knocked down a pair of 3-pointers midway through the half, and she added a 14-foot jumper and two free throws as part of a 14-4 run that turned an 18-17 lead into a 32-21 margin with 6 minutes left in the half.
The Lady Raiders closed the gap with numerous trips to the free throw line, however. NWF State made seven free throws in the final 3:43 of the half.
Rosier and Morton scored 13 and 10 points, respectively, in the first half for the Lady Commodores. Westbrook countered with a team-high 16 points, and Jordan added 11 before halftime for the Lady Raiders.
NWF State men 100, Gulf Coast 76
The NWF State men dominated the contest for 40 minutes, building an early lead and putting the game out of reach in the first half of a lopsided conference win.
A Michael Chandler putback gave the Raiders (17-2, 2-1) a 16-4 lead with 12:20 remaining in the first half. GC (13-7, 1-2) barely made a dent in the deficit and trailed 39-29 after an Elliott Cole layin 2 1/2 minutes before halftime.
NWF State forward Tevin Glass was fouled at the other end of the floor, and GC coach Jay Powell subsequently was whistled for a technical foul. Glass made all four free throws to give the Raiders a 43-29 cushion.
Ninety seconds later, Glass earned another foul call against the Commodores and went to the foul line for two shots. Cole, however, was hit with a technical foul, and Glass made four straight free throws to put NWF State on top 51-32. The Raiders led 53-32 at the break.
"They had 53 points at halftime," said Gulf Coast head coach Powell. "Our perimeter defense was poor, giving up penetration that led to easy points by their big men."
The Raiders led by 20-plus points the entire second half and reached the 100-point plateau with a Glass free throw with 4 seconds left.
Glass scored 23 points and five Raiders reached double figures.