Women's basketball team falls short in State Tournament Semifinals

The Eastern Florida State College women's basketball team lost in the State Tournament Semifinal Friday night at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Florida.

The Titans' last-second shot fell short as Indian River State College picked up the 61-59 victory. Eastern Florida State College fell to 26-4 overall and will now have to wait for the Selection Show on Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. to see if they get an at-large bid to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Lubbock, Texas beginning March 16.

Eastern Florida State College held a slim lead throughout the first quarter but Indian River State College took the lead for the first time early in the second quarter and the teams traded the lead for much of the second quarter.

Kaitlyn Sanders hit a 3-pointer with 1:29 left in the second quarter to give the Titans a 30-29 lead and then Rapuluchi Ngorka hit both free throws and Shadaria Smith hit a shot with 13 seconds left in the quarter as the Titans went into halftime holding a 34-32 lead.

Indian River would go on a 6-0 run in the third quarter and take a five-point lead into the fourth quarter. That lead would increase to as much as nine points in the fourth quarter before the Titans began to chip away at the lead as L'or Eyeba Mputu had two big baskets to cut the lead to 58-55. Down 61-56 and time running down, Leilani Guion gave the Titans one last shot as she hit a huge 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to make it a two-point game.

Indian River State College would miss both free throws, leaving the Titans 7.3 seconds. Kaitlyn Sanders worked around a tight defense but the shot would not fall.

Mputu had one of her best games of the season, finishing with 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Ngorka also finished with a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 19 rebounds as the Titans outrebounded Indian River State College 61-30 in the game. For Ngorka, it was the 16th double-double of the season.

It was the first loss for the Titans since Dec. 29, a span of 14 straight games.