Chipola Basketball Advances to Elite Eight

The state champion Chipola College Lady Indians advanced to the elite 8 of the NJCAA National Basketball Tournament with an 86-52 win over Coffeyville, in the 1 p.m. game on Wednesday, March 18.

Evelyn Akhator led Chipola with 19 points and 19 rebounds. Akhator broke the NJCAA single season rebound record with 545 total rebounds. Sueterrica Key had 17. Rosemarie Julien and Auteaonna Gilmore each scored 13.

Chipola shot 45% from the floor. The Lady Indians shot 79% from the line converting 11 of 14 free throws. The Lady Indians led by as many as 39 in the second half.

Chipola will face the winner of Wednesday's game between the number seven ranked College of Southern Idaho and number 10 ranked Tyler, on Thursday, March 19, at 5 p.m. (CST). Nine seed Northwest Florida State advanced in the first two rounds and will play number one seed Hutchinson on Thursday.

Four wins are needed to capture the national title. The championship game is set for Saturday, March 21, at 6 p.m. (CST). Chipola finished third in the national tournament in 2014.

Chipola's national tournament games will be broadcast live on WJAQ Radio, 100.9 FM. Tournament games are available on the web athttp://www.ihigh.com/njcaaregion8/. Chipola College will also broadcast games on Chipola Television, Comcast Channel 4.