GAMEDAY PREVIEW: Lady Indians travel to Pensacola State for Panhandle Opener

PENSACOLA, Fla. – After an 18-0 start to the 2024-2025 season, the #11 Lady Indians open Panhandle Conference season with an opportunity to repeat history. Although 22 is the Chipola women's basketball record for most consecutive wins held by the 2013-2014 team, the best start to the season was 19-0 by the 2014-2015 team. That team went on to win Chipola's only basketball NJCAA Championship.

Chipola and Pensacola State will tip at 2 PM today in the conference opener for both teams. Along with most of his team, Saturday's game will be first-year Chipola head coach, Mitch Rolls' first Panhandle Conference contest. Only one of Chipola's players, Mekhila Brown, returned from last year's team.

GAME INFORMATION

Time: 2 PM CST

Location: Hartsell Arena – Pensacola, Florida

Streaming: #11 Chipola (18-0) @ Pensacola State (15-3)

LAST TIME OUT

In their final non-conference game of the regular season, the Lady Indians made quick work of the Lady Weevils from Enterprise State. Chipola defeated ESCC, 107-43, at the Milton H. Johnson Health Center last Monday night.

All ten players saw action in the game with sophomore Kanija Daniel putting up a career-high 36 points in the win. Brown came off the bench to add 16 and Aniyah Ruddock scored 13, her 12^th double digit game this season.

Freshman Serena Heeren picked up her fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 16 rebounds. Heeren leads Chipola on the boards with 7.7 rebounds per game.

RANKINGS

The NJCAA Rankings and the FCSAA Coaches Poll will not be published again until Monday, January 13.

Due to the Christmas break, there has not been a poll since December 16.

With a win on Saturday, the Lady Indians should break into the top ten. Chipola has won six games since the last poll and a number of teams in the top ten have lost.

• #8 College of Southern Idaho (14-3) lost on December 17 to Central Arizona College (9-7), 60-54.
• Chipola defeated #9 Shelton State (13-3), 57-53, on December 29.
• Previously unbeaten, #10 McLennan Community College (11-1) fell on the road, 62-58, to #21 Kilgore College (11-4) on January 3.
• On January 4, #6 Three Rivers Community College (13-2) took down #5 Wabash Valley (14-2), 82-76, in overtime.
• #3 New Mexico Junior College (16-1) lost on the road to #12 South Plains College (13-1), 59-57, on January 6.

Currently the Lady Indians are one of three undefeated teams remaining in NJCAA Division One Women's Basketball. The top two teams in the NJCAA Rankings, Hutchinson Community College (15-0) and Northwest Florida State (16-0) are the other two. Chipola's 18 wins are the most in the country.

The FCSAA Coaches' Poll will also be released on Monday. Currently, Chipola and Pensacola are second and fifth respectively with Gulf Coast at third and Florida SouthWestern at fourth. Northwest Florida sits atop the poll.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT

The Lady Pirates are 15-3 on the season and have won their last eight games with their last lost coming on the day after Thanksgiving to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, 62-53.

Pensacola lost to another Mississippi team, Meridian Community College, on November 15, 66-61. The Lady Pirates first loss of the season came to then #8 College of Southern Idaho, 60-56, in Niceville on November 8.

Coach Penny Belford's squad is yet to play a game in 2025. Their last game was on New Year's Eve, a 58-45 win over Calhoun Community College.

Jaida McDonald leads the Lady Pirates in scoring with a 14.8 points per game average. The Dallas, Texas native scored a season-high 22 points in a 95-59 win over Bishop State. McDonald, a sophomore forward, averaged 12.8 ppg a season ago for Coach Belford. She finished in double figures in all three games against the Lady Indians last season, scoring 10 points in the first two meetings and 11 in the third.

GAME NOTES

• Chipola leads NJCAA D1 Women's Basketball in the following statistical categories: Wins (18); Total points (1566); Free throws made per game (19.3); Free throws attempted per game (27.3); Defensive rebounds per game (37.9); and Total rebounds per game (57.8).
• Sophomore guard Kanija Daniel was named FCSAA Player of the Week for December 16, 2024 – January 5, 2025. Due to the Christmas break and limited action from teams across the FCSAA & NJCAA, only one winner in each division was named to represent the three weeks. Daniel led Chipola to a 5-0 record during the Christmas holidays, including a win over No. 9 Shelton State, in which she recorded a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double. She turned in a pair of 31-point performances at home and away over South Georgia Tech, one of the Peach State's best women's basketball colleges. She also had an 18-point showing at home against Southern Union and 22 points against Daytona State at the Lady Jets Holiday Classic in Americus, Georgia. In the five games, Daniel Shot 46.3 percent (37-of-80) from the field, 39.0 percent (16-of-41) from three and 77.8 percent (28-of-36) from the free throw line. Nationally, she is 12th in field goals and 3-point field goals made, and third in free throws made.
• The Lady Commodores, Chipola's next opponent, do not play on Saturday. Northwest Florida and Tallahassee State face off in Niceville today in other conference action.