Women's basketball team tops Hillsborough to advance to tourney semifinals
The Eastern Florida State College women's basketball team opened the FCSAA Women's Basketball Championship with a win in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
The Titans, who are the No. 3 seed in the tournament, defeated Hillsborough Community College 72-45 to advance to the semifinals for the third straight year.
"It was a really gritty win today, we started really slow, I think nerves got to us but once we got settled in, we were able to do what we do," Eastern Florida State College women's basketball coach MJ Baker said.
The first points of the game were not scored until three minutes had gone off the clock and it was 4-3 with 4:08 left in the first quarter. But the Titans began hitting some shots and led 10-8 after the first quarter.
Jaidyn Koerdt came up big early with all 10 of her points in the first half.
The Titans would head to the lockerroom leading 28-13 after Lynn Rieth hit a buzzer-beating half court shot.
The third quarter was all Titans as they would score 26 points in the third and would head to the fourth quarter leading Hillsborough Community College by 27, 54-27.
The win was the 26th straight for Eastern Florida State College and has beaten the Hawks in all four matchups this season.
Mackenzie Auton hit four 3-pointers in the game and led the Titans with 14 points while Martina Galvez Narro had 11 points.
Amelia Hassett recorded her 22nd double-double with 10 points and 18 rebounds in 20 minutes on the court.
Eastern Florida State College will play host Northwest Florida State College in the semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. EDT. The No. 2 seed Raiders defeated Florida Southwestern in the first quarterfinal of the day, 68-42.
"They are the defending national champions, they are a great team, very disciplined and have a lot of arsenals so they are going to be tough. But if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best," Baker said.
Friday's semifinal will tip off at 7 p.m. EDT at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville. Tickets will be $15 at the door and you can watch the game live online at https://team1sports.com/fcsaa/
