Norfleet Leads Lady Bucs Past No. 7 Walters

TUSCALOOSA - Two of the nation's top scoring teams waged a defensive slugfest in the third game of the 7th annual Shelton State Classic on Saturday. 

The No. 12 Shelton State Community College Lady Bucs held off No. 7 Walters State Community College Lady Senators 50-47 in the lowest scoring game in tournament history. 

Freshman Nadia Norfleet hit a bank shot with 31 seconds left the give the Lady Bucs a 48-45 lead. 

"It was a shot I thought I could make," Norfleet said. "Some may think it was a little questionable shot but I felt like I could make it. The defender took a step back and shot the ball off the backboard and it went in."

Walters State Nyjah Gibbs was fouled by Bri Adams with 23 seconds left and sank both free throws to make it 48-47.

With the shot clock off, Walters State was forced to foul and sent Norfleet to the line with two free throws. 

She calmly sank the both to give the Lady Bucs a 50-47 lead.

"I've been shooting free throws pretty well all year," Norfleet added. "I wanted to keep my percentage up, so I concentrated and made them."

The Lady Senators called their final timeout and advanced the ball to midcourt before Reagan Starks missed a three-pointer and sophomore Arissa Jenkins pulled down the rebound to seal the win.

Walters State (10-1) outscored Shelton State 6-1 to open the first quarter to take a 40-35 lead. 

The Lady Senators led 12-10 after the first quarter and stretched the lead to 27-18 at halftime as the Lady Bucs played without freshmen Aryah Grace and Haley Trotter, who both had two fouls.

"Coach (Madonna Thompson) told us at halftime they were tougher than us in the first half," Norfleet said. "So we wanted to change that and came out ready in the second half."

Shelton State (9-2) opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run to take a 28-27 lead. The game was tied at 34-34 after three quarters.

Grace and Trotter combined for 12 points in the third quarter.

"We played hard as a team," Norfleet added. "It was an intense game, for sure."

Grace led the Lady Bucs with 11 points, Norfleet finished with 10 points. 

Freshman Kaitlyn Gipson added nine points. Sophomore Alana Obianozie finished with seven points and nine rebounds. Trotter finished with six points and seven rebounds.

Game 1: Chipola 88, Kilgore 63

No. 2 Chipola College (11-0) had four players in double figures to remain unbeaten with an 88-63 win over Kilgore Colege. 

Taylor Rietveld led the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Daniya McDonald also had 18 points, including four, three-pointers. Tamiria Jones scored 17 and Serena Heeren added 12 points. 

Chipola, the top rebounding team in the country, outrebounded Kilgore, 53-30.

Kilgore (7-5) was led by Janiya Murphy (13) and Anyla Herbert (10).

Game 2: Three Rivers 70, South Georgia Tech 41

Three Rivers held South Georgia Tech scoreless for over 15 minutes in the second and third quarters en route to a 70-41 win.

The Raiders (13-2) forced a tournament record 31 turnovers and held the Lady Jets to 27 percent from the floor.

Samyah Jordan (16), Amelia Corasaniti (15) and Kiera Neal (12) scored 43 of the team's 70 points. 

South Georgia (3-8) got 13 points from Ja'Niya Broome and 11 from Jaiden Elam.

Saturday, Dec. 13

Chipola 88, Kilgore 63

Three Rivers 70, South Georgia Tech 41

Shelton State 50, Walters State 47

Sunday, December 14

Noon - Three Rivers vs. Kilgore

2 PM – Chipola vs. Walters

4 PM- Shelton vs. South Georgia Tech