Raiders Set for NJCAA Women’s Basketball Championship
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LUBBOCK, Texas – Northwest Florida State is set to take to the hardwood on Wednesday to face off against Otero (Colo.) in the NJCAA Women's Basketball Championship at 3 p.m. in the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock, Texas.
Northwest Florida (20-2) earned the No. 5 seed in the tournament and a first round bye after winning the Panhandle Conference title for the third consecutive year.
21-seed Otero (19-3) won the Region IX South Division before taking down Casper in the Region IX tournament title game to earn the automatic bid. The team upset 12-seed Butler, 74-67, in their first-round game on Monday.
The Rattlers are paced by Emma Florez-Pascual, a sophomore forward from La Asuncion, Spain. Florez-Pascual averaged 12.8 points per game, seventh-most in Region IX-South, while teammate Krystina Hagood wasn't far behind with 10.9 points per game.
As a team, Otero averaged 26.2 three-point attempts per game during the season, which ranked 17th in the country. The squad live up to that billing against Butler on Monday going 12-of-32 from beyond the arc.
The Raiders have relied heavily on their defense in 2021 holding opponents to a NJCAA-best 48.5 points per contest. NWF is highly efficient on the offensive side posting a 46.7 team field goal percentage, second-best in the nation.
Chanaya Pinto returns after missing the final two quarters of Northwest Florida's loss to Gulf Coast in the Region VIII semifinals. Pinto leads the team with 14.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per contest.
The game will be streamed live on the NJCAA Network or fans can follow along via live stats.
For more information on Northwest Florida State Athletics, visit NWFRaiders.com or follow the team on Twitter at @NWFRaiders.