Top-ranked Lady Indians stunned by St. Pete

The No. 1 Chipola Lady Indians' reign atop the national JUCO standings may be a brief one after being stunned 58-55 by St. Petersburg College on Saturday night in Ocala.

Chipola led by two at halftime but found itself behind two in the waning moments of the game before Tiffany Lewis knocked in a three-pointer with six seconds to play to put the Lady Indians up 55-54.

But the Lady Titans scored with 0.9 seconds on the clock to regain the lead and added to it with two free throws after Chipola was whistled for a technical foul for calling a timeout that it didn't have.

It was just the second game as the nation's top team for the Lady Indians, who first defeated No. 10 Florida State College at Jacksonville on Friday in what appeared would be Chipola's toughest challenge of the weekend.

But St. Petersburg proved otherwise Saturday by stifling the Chipola offense with a zone defense that resulted in the Lady Indians shooting 33 percent from the field and making just 6-of-24 from beyond the three-point arc.

The Lady Titans were even worse from the field, shooting only 29 percent overall and 4-of-14 from the three-point line, winning primarily thanks to their 13 extra shot attempts resulting from winning the turnover battle and getting six more offensive rebounds.

Kenyona Armstrong had 15 points to lead St. Petersburg, with Baylie Bridges adding 14, and Simonne Potts 12 points to go along with seven rebounds and three blocked shots.

Evelyn Akhator scored 12 points to lead Chipola to go along with eight rebounds and two blocks, while Brianna Wright had nine points, eight rebounds, and three blocks.

Rahni Bell also scored nine points on 3-of-7 from the three-point line, with Sueterrica Key adding eight points, and Lewis seven.

Chipola is now 11-1 on the season and will be off until a Dec. 19-21 trip to Palm Beach State College for games against Wake Tech, Patrick Henry, and Palm Beach State.

St. Petersburg improved to 6-3 with the win