Eastern Florida Women Play for Title; Recognize Sophomores on Saturday

Eastern Florida's women's basketball team will recognize seven sophomores on Saturday and the stakes couldn't be higher as the Titans take the floor against Indian River State.

Tipoff for the regular-season finale is 2 p.m. at the Titan Field House on the Melbourne Campus. Admission is free.

An 81-67 loss at Broward College on Wednesday forced the Titans into a must-win game on Saturday to capture their second straight FCSAA Southern Conference championship.

Thanks to two victories over Broward earlier this season a Titan victory will earn head coach Jim Grimes' team the title regardless of how the Seahawks fare at Palm Beach State on Saturday.

Both teams are 12-2 in the conference. Eastern Florida is ranked fourth in Florida and 25^th nationally.

A Titan loss and a Broward victory will give Broward the title. While both teams have already secured berths in the March 2-5 NJCAA Region 8/FCSAA Tournament at the College of Central Florida in Ocala, winning the conference title is a goal.

 "We've been working toward the conference title as a goal since the beginning of practice," Grimes said. "But regardless of the outcome we can't lose sight of the fact that we are competing in the state tournament and that we want to represent ourselves well once it begins.

"That's a lot to get your arms around but it comes with competing at the top levels of NJCAA basketball."

Grimes and his staff will pay tribute to the sophomores who were part of last season's conference title team: point guard Nene Johnson; forward Crystal Townsend; guard Paola Vasquez; forward Chelsea Long; guard Brittany Wells; center Jovana Vukovic; and transfer and guard Emma Grimes.

Johnson, of Stuart, Florida and Martin County High, started and played in 26 games to date. She is the Titans leading scorer at 14.5 points per game and leads in assists at 5.9.

Townsend, of Cape Coral, Florida and Cape Coral High, started all 27 games to date. She is the third-leading scorer at 11.8 per game and is second in rebounding at eight per game.

Vasquez, of Ciales, Puerto Rico, and Florida Prep, started all 27 games to date. She is the second leading scorer at 14.1 per game. She also leads in steals at two per game. She ranked sixth nationally with 86 three-pointers.

Long, of Melbourne and Mississippi State, has been a solid contributor off the bench, appearing in all 27 games to date and averaging 1.7 points and .6 rebounds.

Wells, from Conway, South Carolina, and Conway High, has played in 25 games. She is averaging three points and 1.8 assists.

Grimes, from Melbourne, transferred from St. Thomas University. She has started all 27 games to date, averaging 9.4 points per game and ranking 21^st nationally with 71 three-pointers.

Vukovic, from Bar, Montenegro, saw little playing time due to injuries the past two seasons.