Photo courtesy: Sarah Demuth

The large crowd that packed Hartsell Arena on Saturday night enjoyed a close game that needed overtime to declare a winner. In the end no. 5 Northwest Florida State (NWF) prevailed over no. 10 Pensacola State 78-74. 

The Lady Pirates were in a position to win the game at the end of regulation as they had the ball with 11.8 seconds remaining and the shot clock was off. Nia Johnson, the high scorer in the game with 22 points, had led the charge in the fourth quarter for the Lady Pirates and there was no doubt she'd get the last touch. They called a play they had been working on in preparation for the game, but the screeners were late and Johnson was forced to create her own off-balance shot that did not fall. In the overtime period the offense could never find their flow and victory slipped away. 

Throughout the game NWF was able to capitalize on their size advantage as they used a 38-24 rebound advantage to secure multiple second chance opportunities. Mylashia Yancey was the only other Lady Pirate to score in double-digits as she recorded 17 points and grabbed six rebounds in the game. 

Despite the loss the PSC coaching staff was encouraged by the game. Coach Belford said, "There are a lot of things we can learn from and fix and the next time this comes around, hopefully we know what to expect and can get it done." This was the Lady Pirates first game in almost three weeks and things will continue to roll from here as they will travel to no. 1 ranked Gulf Coast State on Thursday.