GAMEDAY PREVIEW: LADY INDIANS HEAD TO RAIDER ARENA LOOKING TO STAY HOT

MARIANNA, Fla. – The #24 Lady Indians head to Niceville on Saturday afternoon looking for another win against a top five opponent. Chipola (20-6; 4-4) will take on the #4 Northwest Florida Raiders (21-2; 6-2) at 2 PM in Raider Arena.

Chipola defeated #1 Gulf Coast and Tallahassee last week to move into sole possession of third place in the Panhandle Conference standings. The top three teams from the Panhandle get berths into the FCSAA/Region VIII Tournament on March 14-16 at Raider Arena.

Breaking the streak

The Lady Indians will look to end a streak on Saturday in Raider Arena. Northwest Florida has won the last eight games in the series including two wins earlier this season.

In the first meeting at Raider Arena, NWF dominated from start to finish as they held the Lady Indians to single digits in three of the four quarters. Victoria Morales had a strong output in that game scoring 18 points, including 5-of-11 from three-point range.

Four Lady Indians scored in double-digits in the rematch in Marianna but it wasn't enough as the Raiders escaped with a 73-65. NWF used a strong quarter where they outscored Chipola, 27-13, to win the season series. The Raiders' Destiney McPhaul led all scorers with 19 points including 17 in the third quarter alone.

One of the nation's best

Sophomore guard Tahnyjia Purifoy is at the top of several statistics nationally as the leader of the Lady Indians. She leads the country in minutes played (965) just in front of teammate Victoria Morales (900).

Purifoy is third in the country in points scored (507), ninth in points per game (19.5), third in assists (168), sixth in steals (87), and second in free throws made (132).

Last week she scored 26 points to lead Chipola to a 86-80 overtime win over #1 Gulf Coast. She followed that up in the next game on the road at Tallahassee by equaling her career-high of 32 points in a 73-59 win over the Lady Eagles.

Games Notes

• The Raiders have won the last eight games against the Lady Indians, including the two meetings this season. Chipola's last win over the Raiders was on January 22, 2022. The Lady Indians defeated Northwest Florida that day, 52-50, at The Milton H. Johnson Center in Marianna.
• Northwest Florida has also won the last seven games between the two teams inside Raider Arena. The last Chipola win over NWF in Raider Arena was a 59-58 victory on February 27, 2021. Chipola went on to win the program's seventh FCSAA/Region VIII Championship that season, going 3-0 in the tournament at Raider Arena.
• Since winning the championship on the Raider's home floor in 2021, Chipola is 1-6 at Raider Arena with the lone winning coming over Florida SouthWestern at the FCSAA/Region VIII Tournament in 2022.

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