NWF State routs Harford, advances to sweet 16

By SETH STRINGER

This wasn't an 11-loss NWF State team.

No, this looked more like the crew that defeated No. 2 Daytona State and No. 6 Chipola less than two weeks ago.

Twenty takeaways were forced, leading to a 31-12 advantage on points off turnovers.

The glass was dominated, a 48-36 rebounding advantage leading to a 21-6 cushion on second-chance points.

Meanwhile shots were falling at a 48-percent clip, Acey Powell and Bride Kennedy-Hopoate's 16-point efforts leading five Raiders in double figures.

Harford entered the NJCAA Division I tournament as the nation's leader in points (94) and rebounds (53) per game. The 22 seed left falling 17 short of both on Tuesday, the power of the Panhandle Conference and Region 8 present in the Raiders' 93-77 rout in Lubbock.

Next up for the Raiders – in the sweet 16 for the fourth straight year – is a date with sixth-seeded Trinity Valley at 7 p.m. tonight. The teams last faced in the elite eight in 2014, the Raiders losing 94-63. That year the Cardinals won a third-straight national title, and this year they're among the favorites as an at-large team despite a 57-52 loss to San Jacinto in the Region 14 semifinals.

Of course the No. 11 Raiders – despite their tournament-high 11 losses – could soon be labeled among the favorites as well after Tuesday's effort.

A 31-point second quarter proved to be the turning point for the Raiders, who ended the first half on a 10-1 run to take a 50-39 lead.

The lead never fell below double digits afterward, the Raiders outscoring the Fighting Owls 27-19 in the third quarter to create an insur-mountable cushion.

Attacking the basket with abandon and always making the extra pass to free up a cutting player or a guard behind the arc, the Raiders lived in the paint. Sure, a pair of 3s from Sanders and Powell loomed large. But a 42-30 advantage in points in the paint was telling to the Raiders' aggressiveness.

Tia Sanders followed up Powell and Kennedy-Hopoat with 15 points, six assists and five rebounds and Shami Goodman and Britney Snowden both poured in 10 points.

On the boards, it was a collective win.

Kennedy-Hopoate, Powell, Snowden and D'Rae Tullock each snagged seven rebounds while Goodman added five for the Raiders, who en-joyed a marked height advantage over the Fighting Owls. Hopoate's 6-3 frame towered over Harford's tallest post, 6-1 Janessa Fauntroy, and Tullock and Snowden's length made it nearly impossible for Harford to get good looks at the basket.

Integral in the takeaway department were Powell (five steals) and Tullock (four steals), the latter pouring in eight points.