Women's Basketball Named NJCAA Region 8 Champs
The Palm Beach State College women's basketball team wrapped its regular-season being named NJCAA Region VIII Division II Champs. It is the 1st Region VIII Division II championship for the Panthers, and is also the 1st in school history for all sports. The Palm Beach State College women's indoor volleyball team were region runner-ups in the Fall.
The Panthers entered the season only having 3 players who played during the 21-22 season. Andrea Torres, a 3rd team All-American during 21-22, Kyandra Poitier, and Athaliah Brown, fully recovered from a torn ACL, were the only returners from a 4-16 team. Allie Lallance also returned from last season's team, but she never played a game after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in the first scrimmage.
The Lady Panthers used that youth and returning experience to their advantage. The season started off with a come-from-behind win vs Miami Dade, with the Panthers being down as many as 15 as they fought back to win 69-64. That is when the term "Panthergy" was born. Formed by combining "Panthers" and "energy," this became the women's basketball team motto for the season. The Panthers took their Panthergy on the road to Raleigh, NC where they knocked off then #19 ranked Wake Tech and losing a back-and-forth matchup to Louisburg. Hurricane Nicole was the next obstacle, as it forced the Basketball on the Beach Classic hosted by Daytona State College to be relocated. The Panthers finished the Basketball on the Beach Classic 1-1, falling to new hosts St. Petersburg before knocking off Daytona State. Wrapping up a busy month of November was the Panther's November Holiday Classic, where they defeated FSC-Jacksonville before falling to nationally ranked Illinois Central. The Panthers finished the month beating Miami Dade comfortably at their Kendall campus.
December was a wild month for the Panthers. It started off with 2 straight wins, then followed those victories up with 2 straight losses to nationally ranked North Central Missouri College and Morton College. A trip to the Illinois Central Christmas Tournament was scheduled but the Panthers had to withdraw due to travel issues outside of their control.
Coming off a 3 week stretch of no games, the Panthers started January off by beating Bay College out of Michigan in overtime, beating Montgomery College out of Maryland, and then falling to nationally-ranked Lake Land College in double overtime. The 1st of 3 match-ups with Florida Southwestern followed, along with a road trip to FSC-Jacksonville. Victories over Warner University's JV team and Daytona State brought January to an end. February saw the Lady Panthers go 2-4 down the stretch, all of those games played without an injured Andrea Torres. The final match-up with Florida Southwestern was played March 3rd, allowing both teams to stay sharp as they prepared for their respective post-season tournaments.
The Lady Panthers finished the regular season going 6-6 versus NJCAA Division I teams, as they swept Miami Dade, Daytona State, and FSC-Jacksonville. Massey Ratings has the Lady Panthers with the 12th hardest schedule out of all the NJCAA Division II teams.
The Lady Panthers were led in the regular season by Andrea Torres, who averaged 16.8 points/game while shooting 43.8% from 3 pointers. Keri Cooper, 111 blocks, was the 1st NJCAA Division II Women's Basketball player to reach 100 blocks this season, is currently 2nd in blocks in the nation. Keri (9.4 points), Ashley Thornton (9.9), and Athaliah Brown (9.7) all chipped in to help out in the scoring department.
The Lady Panthers head to the South Atlantic District Tournament as the #6 seed.