Posted: Mar 08, 2023
NICEVILLE, Fla.- After seeing their season come to an end at the hands of the Gulf Coast State Commodores in three of the last four seasons, the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers exacted a bit of revenge on Wednesday afternoon at the NJCAA Region VIII Tournament in Niceville, jumping out to a big early lead and hanging on late for a 71-65 win over the 9th ranked Commodores to advance to their first tournament semifinal since the 2019 season.
The Bucs came out ready to go on Wednesday as back to back layups early on for Blessing King gave them a 6-3 lead before a Natalia Tondi jumper stretched FSW's advantage to 10-3 midway through the first. Gulf Coast made a push back, getting back to within one late in the quarter before Tondi drilled a three with time winding down to give FSW a 15-11 lead at the end of one.
The Bucs scored six of the first eight points of the second to stretch the lead to 21-13 and another three from Tondi put FSW up a dozen midway through the period. It was a 10 point game with the shot clock off late in the quarter when Kiana Wilson drove through the lane and finished in traffic to give the Bucs the momentum and a 33-21 lead as the teams headed to the locker rooms at the break.
The second half started much like the first did, with the Bucs in command as Macarena Retamales slashed to the basket and finished to put FSW up 40-27 early in the third. But just when it seemed as if FSW was going to dominate the game wire to wire, the Commodores, who spent time this season ranked #1 in the country, woke up and made their push. Gulf Coast's pressure held the Bucs to just two points over the next 4:45 as they trimmed FSW's lead all the way down to just four at 42-38 with 3:45 to go in the third. A big three point play from Retamales put the Bucs back up seven, but the Commodores kept on fighting, making it a four point game at 49-45 at the end of three quarters of action.
Retamales drilled a big three in front of the Bucs bench early in the fourth to cushion the lead back to seven and the teams continued to go blow for blow until a 5-0 Gulf Coast run midway through the period had it back down to a one possession game once again at 62-60 with 4:17 to go. An offensive rebound and putback from Blessing King gave the Bucs some breathing room, but they couldn't manage to pad their lead any further than that, going scoreless over the next two minutes while Gulf Coast got a pair of free throws to make it a 64-62 game as the clock ticked under a minute to go. A huge defensive stand for the Bucs gave FSW the ball back and Retamales was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to give the Bucs some breathing room. Gulf Coast had two chances to get back in the game in the final minute, but was unable to connect on either three point attempt and the Bucs cleared the glass and took care of business at the line down the stretch to finish off a 71-65 win to advance to the semis.
The Bucs shot 45% in the contest while holding Gulf Coast to just 34% from the field. FSW flipped the script on the Commodores from their first meeting, outscoring Gulf Coast 23-9 in points off turnovers while dominating the paint where they had a 44-22 advantage.
Tondi led the way with a career high 25 points while King added a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Retamales shook off a slow start to finish with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists for the Bucs.
FSW picked up their 20th win of the season as they improve to 20-8 on the year. It is the sixth straight 20 win season for the Bucs outside of the Covid shortened 2021 campaign. Gulf Coast falls to 24-4 and will now put their hopes in the hands of the NJCAA Women's Basketball committee to see if they will draw an at large for the upcoming NJCAA National Tournament.
The Bucs advance to the Region VIII Tournament Semifinals for the first time since the 2019 season. The Bucs will take on #6 Northwest Florida on the Raiders home floor in a 2 PM (EST) tip off Friday with a trip to the State Championship game on the line.
