Women's basketball team wraps up another historic regular season

After a second straight undefeated conference season, the Eastern Florida State College women's basketball team will head to the FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII Tournament as the No. 1 seed.

The Titans finished the regular season 28-1 and 12-0 in the Central Conference, receiving the No. 1 seed for the first time in program history.  Eastern Florida State College is making its sixth straight appearance in the Region VIII Tournament and reached the semifinals last season.

Eastern Florida State College, led by two-time Central Conference Coach of the Year MJ Baker, will open this year's tournament against conference-foe Santa Fe College Wednesday at 7 p.m. EDT at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville.

The Titans finished the regular season averaging 80.1 points per game which is the 10th-best in the nation. Eastern Florida State College is third in the nation in blocked shots, averaging 7.1 blocks and are seventh in the NJCAA in rebounds, averaging 47.8 rebounds per game.

Eastern Florida State College has four players averaging at least 10 points per game and have played at least nine players in every game this season. On average, the Titans are beating teams by 30 points this season.

Sophomore forward L'or Eyeba Mputu was named the Central Conference Player of the Year as the second-year player has averaged 17 points per game in conference games this season. The Republic of Congo native was right on her average of 17 points in the three meetings against Santa Fe this season and has scored at least 10 points in each of the past 15 games.

Teammates Shadaria Smith, Leilani Guion and Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu were also named to the Central Conference first team and are the four players that are averaging 10 points or more this season.

Mputu, Smith and Guion helped the Titans make a run to the semifinals in the Region VIII Tournament last season and played in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament for the first time in program history, reaching the national tournament quarterfinals.

With all of the history the program made last season, the Titans have made even more history this season as they are ranked No. 1 in the FCSAA NJCAA Region 8 Coaches Poll and were ranked No. 1 in the NJCAA Division I poll at one point this season. They have been the No. 2 team in the country for the past five weeks.

The women's team will open the Region VIII Tournament Wednesday, playing Santa Fe at 7 p.m. EDT in Niceville. Tickets will be $35 for a four-day pass or $10 per session and can be purchased online at https://nwfraiders.com/tournaments/Region8Tourney or at the Northwest Florida State College gym. You can also watch the games live online via Emerald Coast TV.