November 15, 2025
UPSET ALERT! Bucs Take Down Defending Champs
The #18 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers earned their best regular season win in program history on Saturday, knocking off the defending National Champion and #1 ranked Northwest Florida State Raiders 53-52 in front of their home crowd in a thrilling contest in Suncoast Credit Union Arena.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #18 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers earned their best regular season win in program history on Saturday, knocking off the defending National Champion and #1 ranked Northwest Florida State Raiders 53-52 in front of their home crowd in a thrilling contest in Suncoast Credit Union Arena.
The Bucs got off to a quick start, scoring the first five points and holding Northwest off the board for the first three minutes of the contest. An offensive rebound and putback from Destinie Gordon padded the Bucs lead to 9-2 midway through the period and five straight from Damia Worthy to close the quarter gave FSW a 17-8 lead at the end of one.
FSW took their largest lead of the game at 22-10 with a three from Kiara Harris, but Northwest went on a 10-2 run over the next six minutes to trim the Bucs lead to just four at 24-20 with 2:24 to go in the half. Chelsea Bishop earned a tough two on a drive to the bucket to break up the Raider run and the Bucs held Northwest without a field goal into the half as they took a 26-21 advantage into the locker rooms.
A three early in the third quarter from Arielle Marc kept the Bucs up five but the vaunted Northwest defense held FSW without a bucket for the next 3:12 as the Raiders closed the gap back to 32-30 at the media timeout. The Bucs found their footing and Worthy found Delfina Cergneux on the inside for two to push their lead back to six at 39-33 with 1:49 to go in the third. The Bucs missed their final three shots of the period and Northwest closed the quarter on a 5-0 run to make it a one point game at 39-38 as the teams went to the fourth.
Northwest tied the score at 39 with a free throw early in the fourth, but the Bucs responded with a big three from Harris to put them back in front on the next possession. The Raiders took their first lead of the game with 7:17 to go but the Bucs quickly answered to go back in front 47-46. Points were at a premium over the next three minutes as with 4:11 to go things were locked back up at 48. For the first time all day, the Bucs looked like they might be in trouble as Northwest got the next four to take a 52-48 lead with 2:47 to go, but a big three from Bishop drew the Bucs back to within one as the clock ticked under 2:00. The Bucs clamped down defensively, getting back to back stops to give themselves a chance and that opportunity arose as Worthy found Cergneux in the paint for an up and under score to put FSW back ahead 53-52 with 1:10 remaining. The Bucs defense came up big with another stop and they took possession with a 10 second difference on the game clock and shot clock. FSW worked every second off the shot clock, but couldn't add any insurance to their lead. Northwest took possession with less than 10 seconds left and brought the ball up the floor before calling a timeout with 2.3 seconds remaining. The Raiders got a shot off at the horn, but it was off the mark and the celebration started for the Bucs as FSW finished off the defending champs 53-52 for their best regular season win in program history.
It was a low possession game with just 90 total field goals attempted by the two teams as compared to 111 in the Bucs game Friday against Western Wyoming. Northwest Florida actually shot 50% from the field to the Bucs 39% but FSW connected on 7 threes in the game while the Raiders hit just 2. After 26 turnovers that led to 28 opponent points Friday, FSW handled the ball with care on Saturday, giving it up just 10 times leading to just 2 points for Northwest.
Worthy led the Bucs with 15 points while Bishop added 12. Cergneux had a team high 8 rebounds while also scoring the eventual game winner with just over a minute left.
The Bucs improve to 3-2 in the early season with the victory while Northwest Florida drops their first game of the season to fall to 6-1.
FSW will look to carry their momentum through the week before heading North to the Panhandle where they will take on Bishop State and Pensacola next weekend.
