GAMEDAY PREVIEW: BASKETBALL TEAMS HEAD TO BIG GAMES ON THE ROAD

MARIANNA, Fla. – The #25 Lady Indians and the #7 Chipola men travel to Panama City afternoon for important matchups with long-time rival, Gulf Coast Commodores. The women tip today's Panhandle Conference games at 2 PM followed by the men shortly after the completion of the first game at approximately 4 PM.

 #25 Lady Indians (17-3; 1-1 PC) vs. #3 Gulf Coast Lady Commodores (16-1; 1-0)

Fresh off an impressive 77-62 win over the #11 Lady Pirates from Pensacola State, Coach John Marcum and the Lady Indians face their third consecutive ranked opponent, Coach Rory Kuhn's third ranked Lady Commodores.

Gulf Coast was idle on Wednesday but defeated Pensacola last Saturday on the road, 84-60, in both teams' first Panhandle Conference action. Three players finished the game with double-doubles led by sophomore forward, Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu, with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Ozzy-Momodu leads the FCSAA in field goal percentage at 72.1%, which is also good enough for second in the NJCAA.

 Game Notes:

• This is the first meeting between the two teams this season. The Lady Indians were 1-2 last season against the Lady Commodores. Chipola upset #1 ranked Gulf Coast on January 14, 2023, 83-76, at The Milt.
• Gulf Coast has won the series the last two years, going 2-1 a season ago and 3-1 in 2021-2022. Chipola last won the season series in 2020-2021, when the Lady Indians swept the Commodores 5-0 including a win in the FCSAA/Region VIII State Championship. Chipola's last victory inside Billy Harrison Fieldhouse was a 77-66 win on February 3, 2021.
• Over the last 25 years, the Chipola and Gulf Coast have combined to win 19 FCSAA/Region VIII Women's Basketball Championships.
• Chipola sophomore Tahnyjia Purifoy is third in the NJCAA in total points with 367. She is just one point out of second place going into Saturday's games.

#7 Indians (18-1; 2-0 PC) vs. Gulf Coast Commodores (15-4; 1-0)

The Chipola men had to come from behind on Wednesday to take down Pensacola but gutted out a 66-57 win for Coach Donnie Tyndall's 100^th win as the Indians' head coach. The win was also the Indians' 28^th consecutive home win and most importantly the 18^th win on the season for a 2-0 start in Panhandle Conference play.

The Gulf Coast men, like the Lady Commodores, were off on Wednesday, but defeated Pensacola in their one and only conference game this season last Saturday, 83-67. The Commodores shot a blazing 50.9% against the Pirates and were led by sophomore forward, Jaxon Ellingsworth, who had 33 points in the game. Ellingsworth leads the FCSAA and 2^nd in the NJCAA in free throws made with 109.

Game Notes:

• Chipola is 9-2 against the Commodores under Coach Donnie Tyndall, including 3-0 a season ago. The only two losses were in the Billy Harrison Fieldhouse in the first meetings of each of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
• Chipola has won the last five meetings between the two teams with Gulf Coast's last win taking place on January 17, 2022.
• The Indians will play a rare non-conference game at this point in the season on Tuesday, January 23 when they travel to Georgia Highlands for a 4:30 CT tip. This game was rescheduled from a cancellation earlier in the season.

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