The #2 Lady Indians faced their first taste of adversity in a hard fought victory over #25 Seward County on the first night of the World Exposure Report Invitational Tournament.
Sophomore guard, Jordan McLaughlin, poured in a career-high 37 points as Chipola went on to defeat the Lady Saints, 93-87.
The Lady Saints showed up at The Milt on Friday night and ran out to a 30-17 lead after one quarter of play. Seward County hit six shots from outside the three-point arc in the early going, causing the Lady Indians to adjust their defensive schemes.
"They shoot the ball unbelievably and they're really skilled...we had to come out of our match-up and go man-to-man," said Lady Indians head coach, Greg Franklin.
In the second quarter the fortunes flipped. The Lady Indians clamped down on the Lady Saint's hot shooters and began to heat up on their own end of the court. Chipola outscored Seward County, 32-17, in the quarter, sinking four three-pointers of their own. The Lady Indians took the lead with just over a second left in the half when McLaughlin sunk two free throw shots after being fouled under her own basket.
The Lady Saints began to find their shot again in the third period. Four shots from deep along with Chipola's struggles from the free throw line, pushed Seward County into the lead heading into the final quarter, 73-71.
In the fourth, McLaughlin put the Lady Indians on her back. Scoring 11 in the quarter, including 5-of-6 from the charity stripe, gave Chipola just enough to get the win over a team Coach Franklin predicted could play for a National Championship.
"I can't say enough about how much respect I have for Seward. They're well-coached and they're team plays extremely hard. They could make a deep, deep run at a National Championship."
Coach Frankiin also praised his own group of resilient ladies. "I also have a lot of respect for my team. This was a really gutsy win for us where we had to overcome a whole lot of adversity, especially shooting the way we did from the free throw line. Whether we won or lost, we needed that type game."
Three other Lady Indians finished in double figures on the night. Shimei Muhammad also had a career-night, scoring 16. Ashley Baez had 12 and Shcira Fowles had 10 for Chipola.
Chipola will return to the floor at The Milt on Saturday night at 5 PM for a game against another ranked opponent. The #9 Lady Chargers of Georgia Highlands College will face off with the Lady Indians in the final game of the WER Invitational. Georgia Highlands lost to Gulf Coast on Friday afternoon in the first game of the WER Invitational, 85-77.