Women's basketball team tops Hillsborough, improves to 11-2
The Eastern Florida State College women's basketball team improved to 11-2 with an 82-77 victory over Hillsborough Community College Saturday afternoon at Titan Field House on the Melbourne campus.
The 24th-ranked Titans led for most of the first half but Hillsborough Community College went on a 13-3 run late in the second quarter and with two minutes and 15 seconds left, the Hawks had a 26-24 lead. But the Titans responded, finishing the quarter on an 8-0 run as Shadaria Smith and Tatiana Beaumont each hit 3-pointers.
Up six at halftime, the Titans came out with a renewed energy in the third quarter, leading by as much as 17 and headed to the fourth quarter with a 12-point lead.
But the fourth quarter would see Hillsborough come back as the Titans were called for three technicals in the quarter which helped the Hawks cut the lead to three points with 1:40 remaining.
Hillsborough Community College got to within one point with under a minute remaining, but Rapuluchi Ngorka picked up a big rebound with 24 seconds remaining. From there, Smith hit two free throws to take a three-point lead, 80-77 with 9.5 seconds left. Smith would grab the rebound off a miss and would hit two more free throws to lock up the win.
Smith finished with 22 points marking the second straight game that the freshman has scored 20-plus points. Teammate Kaitlyn Sanders finished with 14 points and L'or Eyeba Mputu finished with 12 points and has now scored at least 10 points in three of the past four games.
Kristina Goncharuk found her shooting range in the third quarter, scoring all 11 of her points.
Darria Whitley finished with 15 points for Hillsborough Community College.
Eastern Florida State College will be back on the court after Christmas, traveling to Georgia for the Lady Jets Holiday Classic December 28-30. The Titans will play Lawson State Community College at 7 p.m. Dec. 28 and then play Georgia Highlands at 3 p.m. Dec. 29 with the Titans wrapping up the tournament Thursday, December 30 against Chattahoochee Valley CC at 10 a.m.