FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Florida SouthWestern State College women’s basketball team saw four student-athletes receive postseason accolades. FSW was represented on the Southern Conference’s First Team by Erna Normil, LaToya Ashman and Amanda Oliver. The Purple and Aqua also garnered one Second Team selection as Dajsha Hall received postseason accolades.
Head coach Kristie Ward and the Buccaneers wrapped up the program’s first season with a 20-11 overall record. The Purple and Aqua, ranked No. 5 in the final NJCAA Region 8 Coaches’ Poll, earned a berth to the NJCAA District VIII Championship in the first year of the program with a second place finish in the Southern Conference (9-3). The Bucs also won 11 of their last 12 games to close the regular season and were one of four schools in the state with both its men’s and women’s basketball teams represented in the State Tournament (Central Florida, Broward, Tallahassee).
Normil finished her rookie campaign with averages of 16.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Normil’s 16.8 points rank her 45th in the country in scoring. In conference play, the Lake Worth, Fla. native turned it up a notch, averaging 19.7 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest. She scored in double figures in 22 of the 29 games she played in, including 20+ points on nine occasions. Normil notched a career-high 33 points, on 12-of-18 shooting from the field and 7-of-11 from behind the arc, in a 75-69 win over Daytona State (Dec. 13).
Ashman started 30 of the 31 games the Bucs played and shot 45.7 percent from the field, while averaging 14.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists on the season. Ashman’s 4.8 assists rank her 27th in the country in assists. She scored in double figures in 27 of the 31 games she appeared in, including a career-high 31 points, on 6-11 shooting from the floor and 16-of-25 from the charity stripe, against Miami Dade (108-100; Feb . 22). The Wellington, Fla. native scored 20+ points on eight occasions and recorded double digit assists four times. Ashman recorded the program’s first triple-double on Jan. 28 in a 76-71 win at Miami Dade, finishing with 19 points, 10 boards and 10 assists.
Oliver had a solid freshman campaign, averaging 7.5 points and 7.1 rebounds in 31 games. She increased her averages during Southern Conference play and averaged 11.1 points and 9.8 rebounds. Oliver scored in double figures 12 times and pulled down double digit rebounds on 10 occasions. The Orlando, Fla. native recorded eight double-doubles on the season, including a huge 18-point, 19-rebound performance in an 82-69 win over Broward College on Jan. 14.
An Orlando, Fla. native, Hall averaged 10.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest. She scored in double figures in 20 of the 31 games she played in and also grabbed double digit boards on six occasions. Hall had her best month in January, when she averaged 12.7 points and 8.1 rebounds and she recorded a career-high 20 points in FSW’s 109-62 win over Impact Prep (Feb. 28).
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SUNCOAST CREDIT UNION ARENA
The Buccaneers compete in the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena. Suncoast Credit Union Arena is approximately 75,000 square feet and is home to the Buccaneers' basketball and volleyball teams, and a student athletic center. The arena seats approximately 3,300 fans and includes six skyboxes, a hospitality event center, competition courts that convert into recreational courts, athletic office space, student, faculty and staff wellness, and an athletic center with a fitness pavilion, men's and women's locker rooms and a weight training area. The arena has two Daktronics displays, on the north and south walls, that each measure 10 feet high by 20 feet wide. Both displays incorporate variable content zoning to each show one large image or they can be divided into multiple windows to show any variety of live video, instant replays, up-to-the-minute statistics, graphics and animations, and sponsorship messages. One-hundred feet of ribbon displays have been installed on the east and west walls of the arena. The ribbons provide the opportunity to supplement the content on the main displays as well as highlight sponsors throughout events.
FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN
The Florida SouthWestern State College athletic program is a member of the Florida College System Athletic Association (FCSAA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Buccaneers are one of 25 schools in the NJCAA Region 8 and are one of six schools in the Suncoast Conference. Florida SouthWestern State College currently supports four intercollegiate athletic programs (Baseball, Softball, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball), with Volleyball coming in the fall of 2017.
Baseball and Softball began their regular season competition in 2016 at the City of Palms Park in Fort Myers. Located on the Thomas Edison (Lee) Campus in Fort Myers will be the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena (completed in fall 2016), where FSW’s men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams will compete.
THE NJCAA
The movement to form a unique sports association dedicated to America’s two-year colleges arose in 1937 when several track and field coaches gathered in Fresno, California. A year later, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rejected a petition from 13 two-year colleges in California to grant their teams and athletes permission to compete at the NCAA Track & Field Championships.
In the spring of 1938, following the NCAA’s rejection, those same 13 two-year colleges gathered again in Fresno to organize and form an association that would promote and supervise a national athletics program exclusively for junior and community colleges…and the rest is history.
On May 14, 1938, the first constitution of the National Junior College Athletic Association was accepted by its charter members and the organization held its first national championship event a year later in May 1939.
The NJCAA has played a vital role in collegiate athletics for the past eight decades and continues to be the leader in championing academic and athletic opportunities for student-athletes. This section of the association's website is dedicated to celebrating the NJCAA's rich history and tradition as the national governing body of two-year college athletics.
For more information on the NJCAA log on to www.NJCAA.org.
THE FCSAA
The Florida College System Activities Association, Incorporated (FCSAA) is a statewide non‑profit corporation regulating, coordinating, and promoting intercollegiate activities in: Athletics, Brain Bowl, Forensics, Music, Student Government, Student Publications, and Theatre.
Membership in the Florida College System Activities Association is open to any of the 28 colleges in the Florida College System. Each member institution is represented in the policy‑making deliberations of the Association through that institution's President or other designated representative. The institutional representatives constitute the FCSAA Presidents Assembly, the ultimate authority in FCSAA.
For more information on the FCSAA log on to www.TheFCSAA.com.
NJCAA REGION 8, THE SUNCOAST CONFERENCE & THE SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Member colleges of the NJCAA are allotted to a specific NJCAA Region upon membership to the association. Unlike other collegiate organizations that defer to conference affiliation, the NJCAA guarantees each member college's membership within the regional structure of the association. In most cases, region assignment is based upon geographic location of the college.
The region structure of the NJCAA is the primary method used by all sponsored sports of the association in determining qualification for national championship tournaments. In certain sports, two or more regions are partnered to form a competition 'district', which is then used for national championship qualification. The organization of districts varies per sport and is formulated every two years under the authority of the association's board of directors.
FSW is in Region 8 and is joined by ASA College Miami (Region 8 only; non-FCSAA member), Broward College, Chipola College, College of Central Florida, Daytona State College, Eastern Florida State College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Gulf Coast State College, Hillsborough Community College, Indian River State College, Lake-Sumter State College, Miami Dade College, Northwest Florida State College, Palm Beach State College, Pasco-Hernando State College, Pensacola State College, Polk State College, Santa Fe College, Seminole State College of Florida, South Florida State College, St. Johns River State College, St. Petersburg College, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota and Tallahassee Community College.
The Bucs are also in the Suncoast Conference with Hillsborough Community College, Polk State College, South Florida State College, St. Petersburg College and State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota.
The women’s basketball program is Southern Conference with Broward College, Eastern Florida State College, Indian River State College, Miami Dade College and Palm Beach State College.
For more information on Region 8 log on to www.TheFCSAASports.com.