By: Dustin Kent - JCFloridan.com
The No. 4 Chipola Lady Indians made a big early-season statement Saturday night in Midland, Tex., knocking off the defending national champion and No. 1 Trinity Valley Lady Cardinals 72-60 in the final of the Women's NIT.
The tournament started on Thursday, with Chipola opening up with a somewhat sluggish 70-64 win over Odessa before bouncing back Friday with a dominating 76-44 victory over Cloud.
In Saturday's final against Trinity Valley, the Lady Indians used a 50-point second-half outburst to blow the game open and then salt it away late thanks to the free throw shooting of freshman point guard Diamonisha Sophus, who made 11-of-12 at the stripe and scored a game-high 23 points.
"We kind of got hot (in the second half) and had some big plays from some kids who really stepped up," Chipola coach Greg Franklin said. "Every night, we had a different kid step up."
The Lady Indians had three different leading scorers in the tournament and three players, with Sue Key scoring a team-high 22 points in the win over Cloud, and Evelyn Akhator posting 22 points and 15 rebounds in the win over Odessa.
Akhator, Key, and Brianna Wright all made the all-tournament team, with Akhator earning Most Valuable Player honors after filling up the stat sheet with 12 points, 18 rebounds, four blocks, and four steals in the win over Trinity Valley and continuing to be a dominant force for the Lady Indians at both ends of the court.
"She was tremendous," Franklin said.
Key added 15 points in the title game after scoring 22 in the semifinal win over Cloud, while Treyvonna Brooks contributed 12 points and seven rebounds.
Chipola won despite shooting just 5-of-36 from the field in the game's first 20 minutes.
It's a victory that establishes the Lady Indians as serious national championship contenders, and it may result in their ascension to No. 1 in the next NJCAA poll when it comes out Dec. 2.
"It kind of staples us in the national scene of being right there and being one of those top two or three teams in the country and that's what we're really looking for, getting into that top tier," Franklin said. "It helps with recruiting and bringing kids in here and letting them know that we are competing at the national level and we're going to compete for championships."
Chipola is now 8-0 on the season and has won those games by an average margin of 28 points per game.
That level of dominance could be good enough to give the Lady Indians the top spot in the next poll, but the coach said it's important that his players understand how to keep that in perspective.
"This is what I've told the kids, that they've got two things to handle: they've got to be able to handle adversity, and they've also got to be able to handle success," Franklin said. "They have to stay focused and be able to handle that every day grind. But I wouldn't mind being No. 1. That's a great place to be. It wouldn't bother me at all."
The Lady Indians will next travel to Niceville this weekend for the Northwest Florida Rick Flores Classic where they will take on Santa Fe on Friday and Miami-Dade on Saturday.