Shauna Cook
The Corsair
Thursday, March 8 was a victory for the Lady Pirates against Hillsborough Community College 71-55. This gives the Lady Pirates a place in the Semi-finals tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. where they will be playing against Palm Beach State College (25-1 overall).
The Lady Pirates came into the 2012 FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII State Championship as Panhandle Co-Champions tied with Gulf Coast State College as the first seed.
The starting line-up for the Lady Pirates were Sophomore from Natchitoches, La. #3 Brandy Broome, Sophomore from Washington, DC #5 Ronika Ransford, Sophomore from Pensacola #15 Jasmine Richardson, Sophomore from Dale City, Va. #22 Kyana Jacobs, and Freshman from East St. Louis, Ill.#25 TeAndrea Smith.
Starting for the Lady Hawks were Sophomore from Kissimmee #3 Yashira Delgado, Sophomore from North Shore, New Zealand #14 Adoniah Lewis, Sophomore from Chicago, Ill. #21 Erica Askew, Freshman from Columbus, Ga. #22 Janai Merritt, and Sophomore from Tampa #31 Lindsey Botts.
Within the first 6:30 of the first half, the Lady Pirates took a seven point lead (12-5) against the Lady Hawks. Maintaining the lead, the Lady Pirates were up by 14 (24-10) with 6:37 remaining on the clock in the first half.
With 2:00 on the clock, the Lady Hawks managed to catch up being down only by five(20-25). With a little over a minute left on the clock, Darnisha Hamilton hit two three-pointers back to back giving the Lady Pirates an 11 point lead (31-20) but not before Janai Merritt hit a three at the last second leaving the Lady Hawks down by eight at half-time.
Coming into the second half, the Lady Pirates maintained their lead over the Lady Hawks. With 14:20 on the clock, the Lady Pirates were ahead by nine (43-34). When the Lady Hawks showed they had a chance to catch up, the Lady Pirates fired back by scoring back to back. By the time there was only 8:45 on the clock, the Lady Pirates took a 13 point lead (56-43) over the Lady Hawks.
At 3:37 on the clock, Lady Pirate Ronika Ransford and Lady Hawk Lindsey Botts collided, causing Ransford to cut open her head and Botts to have a bloody mouth. Both players were taken out of the game. Wendi Mitchell would come in to shoot one-and-one for Ransford.
With 50.2 remaining on the clock, the Lady Hawks were down by 10 (55-65). By the time there was 35.9 seconds on the clock, Adoniah Lewis got her fourth (47.6) and fifth fouls causing her to foul out of the game. Kyana Jacobs would score four points from the line for the back to back fouls from Lewis leaving the Lady Pirates up by 14 (69-55).
At the buzzer Brittany Watkins scored two, leaving the Lady Pirates with a 16 point lead win over Hillsborough.
The top scorers for the Lady Pirates were Kyana Jacobs with 13 points, Darnisha Hamilton with 11 points, and Brandy Broome, Ronika Ransford and TeAndrea Smith all with 10 points each.
Top scorers for the Lady Hawks were Janai Merritt with 19points and Petra Erceg, Adoniah Lewis, Erica Askew, and Lindsey Botts all with 8 points a piece.