 Gulf Coast bounces back from first loss of season with dominating 76-50 victory over Northwest Florida State.
By Josh Weinfuss
Florida Freedom Newspapers
PANAMA CITY — Gulf Coast’s remedy after losing its first game of the season was to go back to basics Saturday night. By the end of the game, No. 16 Northwest Florida State was sick of it. The top-ranked Lady Commodores ran when they could, but traded in their patented fast-break offense for half-court sets in a 76-50 win over the Raiders at the Billy Harrison Field House. "To get a win after our first loss is a good thing," Gulf Coast coach Roonie Scovel said. "I thought we shot nice shots. We looked more like a team." Both teams were without key contributors: Gulf Coast (21-1, 7-1 Panhandle Conference) missing Kyra Crosby to an ankle injury and Northwest Florida State (15-6, 2-6) Josette Campbell and Jasmine Hicks. Without Crosby, Scovel went with a more offensive-minded lineup, but it didn’t show until the start of the second half. Northwest Florida State’s Vontrice Dennis cut Gulf Coast’s halftime lead to 37-25 before the Lady Commodores went on a 13-1 run to take complete control 50-26. "I thought they did really good in the halfcourt offense going inside," Northwest Florida coach Bart Walker said. "They played physical and aggressive." The Lady Raiders’ only lead was 7-4 just more than 2 minutes in, and they came within two points a few minutes later. Gulf Coast took a 10-point lead with 11 minutes left in the first half, 23-13, and it grew to 14 at halftime. Gulf Coast’s Andrea Smith led all scorers with 17. Paige McCallum had 16 and Andrell Smith 14. Northwest Florida State was paced by Shamar Harris’ 13. Gulf Coast struggled from the free-throw line, making just 10 of 21, an area Scovel was concerned with. She was also troubled with a number of easy misses inside by her frontcourt. Until the Lady Commodores extended their 10-point lead with less than 4 minutes left in the first half, Walker was pleased with how the Lady Raiders contained Gulf Coast. "I thought for 8 or 10 minutes we did a good job (of slowing) their transition," Walker said. |
