Saturday Basketball Preview: Indians take on Northwest Florida

Chipola men's and women's basketball will take on the Raiders from Northwest Florida State in a rare Saturday matinee at The Milt. The #3 Lady Indians will take on the #2 Raiders at 2 PM followed by the men's game at 4 PM.

Women's Basketball: Chipola College (5-0; 2-0 PC) vs. Northwest Florida State College (6-0; 2-0 PC)

2:00 PM Central (Only members of the Chipola Appreciation Club are allowed in games at the Milton H. Johnson Center due to social distancing measures. Join the Appreciation Club.)

Live Stream: Chipola vs. Northwest Florida

The number two and three teams in the nation will be in action on Saturday afternoon at The Milt with a chance to become number one when next week's rankings come out. Trinity Valley Community College, the number one team in NJCAA Women's D1 Rankings lost on Wednesday night opening the door for the winner of today's battle to move into the top spot.

Also at stake in today's matchup is the opportunity to be the early leader in the Panhandle Conference standings. Both teams are 2-0 in conference play and sit atop the leaderboard. 

In their last game, the Lady Indians defeated Tallahassee Community College, 75-47. Ifunanya Nwachukwu led Chipola with her first double-double of the season, scoring 17 and hauling in 16 rebounds. The Lady Indians are led by sophomore guard, De'Myla Brown. Her 20.4 point per game average is good enough for fourth in the country. As a team, Chipola women are averaging 75.2 points and shooting 47.2 percent from the floor.

The Raiders also defeated Tallahassee in their last game, routing the Eagles 88-26. Northwest Florida has displayed a stingy defense, allowing opponents only 44.3 points per game while holding teams to 28 percent shooting from the floor. On offense the Raiders average 77 points per game and shoot 48.1 percent from the floor, including 30.3 percent from outside the arc. Northwest is led by 6'1 sophomore forward Chanaya Pinto. Pinto averages 18 points per game and is also bringing in 9.8 rebounds per game.

Men's Basketball: Chipola College (6-3; 1-2 PC) vs. Northwest Florida State College (4-4; 1-2 PC)

4:00 PM Central (Only members of the Chipola Appreciation Club are allowed in games at the Milton H. Johnson Center due to social distancing measures. Join the Appreciation Club.)

Live Stream: Chipola vs. Northwest Florida

Both the Indians and Raiders come into Saturday's game following a loss to Tallahassee Community College. On Tuesday night, the Eagles defeated Chipola 70-49 and then defeated Northwest on Thursday, 76-69.

The Indians will be back at home where they have not lost in 2021, winning all five games by an average of 18 points per game. The Chipola men have a home winning streak of nine games dating back to last season. Carlos Lemus is the team's leading scorer averaging 12.4 points per game. The Indians are averaging 80.3 points per game and shooting 47.3 percent from the floor.

Northwest Florida led Tallahassee at halftime on Thursday night but were outscored 52-34 in the second half. Guards Marseilles Caston and Micah Thomas lead the way for the Raiders, averaging 14.8 and 14.3 points per game. Northwest, as a team, averages 73.3 points per game and shoots 40.9 percent from the floor.

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