February 24, 2011
Basketball: All-Panhandle Conference teams announced
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — Three players on the Gulf Coast women’s basketball team and one from the men’s team were named first-team selections on the All-Panhandle Conference team announced Wednesday. GC sophomores Kyra Crosby and Porsha Harris and freshman Bre’Anna Lewis garnered first-team nods for the Lady Commodores. GC’s Ashley Rush was a second-team pick. Sophomore Travis Smith represented the Gulf Coast men as a first-team selection, and freshman Terrence Townes earned a second-team bid.
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February 19, 2011
Lady Commodores send Hicks off with win
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — It was too late in coming to help this year, but the Gulf Coast women’s basketball team would have been hard-pressed to find a better way to send assistant coach Grover Hicks into retirement on Saturday night. Fighting back from six points down in the final five minutes, the Lady Commodores punctuated the end of Hicks’ 15-year tenure at Gulf Coast with one of their grittiest performances of the year in a 62-60 victory over Northwest Florida State at the Billy Harrison Field House.
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February 12, 2011
Basketball: McCloud leads GC women past Chipola
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — The game set up perfectly for Britney McCloud Given the opportunity to get out and run, McCloud fired in 17 first-half points to power Gulf Coast early in an 82-64 home victory over rival Chipola in a Panhandle Conference women’s basketball game Saturday night. The Lady Commodores put an emphatic end to a five-game losing streak and improved to 14-10 overall and 3-7 in the Panhandle. Chipola, ranked third in the state and 21st nationally, slipped to 18-9 and 4-5.
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February 8, 2011
Basketball: GC women eliminated from state contention
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - TALLAHASSEE — Sift through a bag of fresh grapes, and the large majority of them will be sweet and juicy. It’s inevitable, however, that some will wind up at the bottom of the bag and get bruised or squashed. Roonie Scovel hadn’t encountered many spoiled grapes en route to three national championships and 13 consecutive Panhandle Conference titles as the women’s basketball coach at Gulf Coast. This year, though, it’s seemed just about every one pulled from the bag over the past month has left a bitter taste. The Lady Commodores made only 30 percent of their shots from the floor, and Gulf Coast never was able to wrestle control from Tallahassee in a 69-64 loss in a conference matchup Tuesday at the Eagledome.
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February 5, 2011
Basketball: GC teams suffer lopsided losses to NWF
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - NICEVILLE — Panhandle Conference opponents have figured out where to attack the Gulf Coast women’s basketball team. Northwest Florida State forced the Lady Commodores into nearly as many turnovers as points scored in the first half, and Gulf Coast struggled shooting from the perimeter in an 87-63 road loss to the Lady Raiders in a conference matchup. Already assured that its 13-year streak of conference championships was over, Gulf Coast (13-9, 2-6 conference) now must win each of its remaining four games to have any shot at nabbing the Panhandle’s second seed at the state tournament. The Lady Raiders (20-4, 5-3) can eliminate GC from postseason contention with just one victory, and they maintained a one-game lead over third-place Chipola in the Panhandle standings.
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January 25, 2011
Scovel named to 2011 NJCAA Hall of Fame Class
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — Roonie Scovel has received one of junior college basketball’s highest honors. The longtime women’s basketball coach at Gulf Coast was one of two coaches named to the 2011 class for the NJCAA Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame announced on Tuesday. Scovel has won three national championships and compiled a 435-51 record in 14-plus seasons at Gulf Coast. She was named the NJCAA national coach of the year three times (2003, 2008, 2010) and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association coach of the year in 2004. The Lady Commodores capped the 2002-03 season with a national title and a 35-0 record.
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January 25, 2011
Basketball: Chipola women surge past Gulf Coast
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - MARIANNA — It was one bucket of many Tuesday night, but it may have been more crucial than the rest. Chipola’s Carleeda Green buried a 3-pointer as part of a four-point play, and that basket sparked a 12-0 run that carried the Lady Indians to a 55-46 victory over Gulf Coast in a women’s basketball game at the Milton H. Johnson Health Center. In conjunction with unbeaten Pensacola’s 79-70 win at Tallahassee, GC’s pursuit of a 15th consecutive Panhandle Conference all but ended with the loss. The Lady Commodores (13-7 overall) fell to 2-4 in the conference, four games behind Pensacola with six contests remaining.
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January 22, 2011
Basketball: Lady Commodores shoot just 26 percent in loss
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — The Gulf Coast women’s basketball team tested the theory that coaches can overlook missed shots as long as they’re open and come in rhythm offensively. The Lady Commodores shot 26 percent from the floor, and that was enough to sink Gulf Coast’s chances in a 64-54 loss to Tallahassee at the Billy Harrison Field House on Saturday night.
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January 19, 2011
GC women pick up much-needed victory
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — Roonie Scovel sees no need to sugarcoat victories. Bre’Anna Lewis buried seven 3-pointers en route to 30 points, and the Gulf Coast women’s basketball team picked up a much-needed win Wednesday night with a 70-66 victory over fifth-ranked Northwest Florida State. Playing at the Billy Harrison Field House, Gulf Coast improved to 13-5 overall and 2-2 in the Panhandle Conference. The Lady Raiders fell to 17-3 and 2-2 in the conference, leaving both squads tied with Chipola for second place in the pursuit of the Panhandle’s two slots at the FCCAA state tournament.
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January 15, 2011
Basketball: PSC completes sweep of Gulf Coast
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PENSACOLA — Gulf Coast led top-ranked Pensacola State College much of the game, but couldn’t hold off the unbeaten Lady Pirates and fell 92-84 on Saturday in Panhandle Conference women’s basketball. Pensacola made it a sweep with an 84-69 win in the men’s game. Darren Goodsen had 23 points for the Pirates (14-7, 2-2), who keep the Commodores (10-11, 0-3) winless in the conference. The Lady Commodores (12-5, 1-2) led 42-38 at halftime and built their lead as large as 14 points in the second half before Pensacola rallied. A basket by Najat Ouardad put PSC in the lead and the Lady Pirates pulled away in the final minutes.
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January 13, 2011
Roonie's right-hand man: Hicks to retire at end of season
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — What Ed Sullivan was to The Beatles, Grover Hicks was to Roonie Scovel.

OK, to be fair, that might not be entirely accurate. After all, Sullivan never quit his show to join John, Paul, George and Ringo as the fifth Beatle. Hicks may not have given Scovel her first break as a basketball coach, either, but he may have given her the biggest.

Hicks hired Scovel to take over the girls basketball team at Laurel Hill High School in 1990, and he joined her on the sidelines as an assistant two years later. They’ve coached together every year since, enjoying remarkable success on the court at the prep and junior college levels. Hicks followed Scovel to Gulf Coast Community College to revive the women’s program in 1996, and they’ve teamed to win three national championships and build one of the nation’s elite programs.

That era will reach its end this year, however. Gulf Coast announced this week that Hicks, 68, is retiring at the end of the season, capping a 46-year coaching career. Hicks’ future includes raising bird dogs and hunting quail on his 58-acre property in Alabama, though he will continue in a role as an unpaid volunteer and recruiter.

“I’ve been told all my life when the time was right, you would know it,” Hicks said. “The time for me is now. I need to pursue some other interests. There are some personal things I want to do before I can’t do them. It seems like this is the right time. I’ve been blessed with what I think is good health. The situation is where I feel like I’ve got a few years left in me to do some things.”

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January 8, 2011
Chipola women notch historic win over Gulf Coast
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — David Lane had coached his team to victory at the Billy Harrison Field House, but until Saturday night he’d never done it against the venue’s landlord. The Chipola College women’s basketball team controlled the game’s tempo and withstood Gulf Coast’s late rally to secure a 64-59 victory in a Panhandle Conference showdown. Chipola was competing in its conference opener and improved to 15-4 overall. Lane said the Lady Indians previously were 0-10 against the Lady Commodores on the defending national champions’ home floor during his tenure. That had won here in tournament play.
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January 7, 2011
Chipola, GC set to renew competitive rivalry
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — Animosity and disrespect may comprise the foundation of some rivalries, but those words don’t exist when talking about women’s college basketball at Gulf Coast and Chipola. Two of the nation’s premier basketball programs renew their rivalry tonight when Gulf Coast hosts the Lady Indians in a Panhandle Conference game at 5:30 p.m. at the Billy Harrison Field House. The men’s teams at Gulf Coast (10-9 overall) and Chipola (13-2) follow at 7:30 p.m. Ranked 10th nationally and No. 3 in Florida, the Lady Commodores enter the game 12-3 overall and 1-0 in Panhandle play. Chipola is 14-4 and playing its conference opener. The Lady Indians are ranked fifth in the state and 21st in the country. The game will be aired live on WKGC-FM 90.7, WKGC-AM 1480, and GCTV (Ch. 5 Comcast, Ch. 6 Knology).
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January 5, 2011
Basketball: Lady Commodores pull away for road win
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - TALLAHASSEE — Roonie Scovel doesn’t want to endure too many conference games like this one. The Gulf Coast Community College women’s basketball team nearly let a giant lead in the first half slip away but rediscovered its shooting stroke in time to pull away for a 66-49 victory over Tallahassee at the Eagledome on Tuesday night. The game served as the Panhandle Conference opener for both teams. Gulf Coast improved to 12-3 overall and dropped the Lady Eagles to 11-3 in a battle between the third- and fourth-ranked teams in the state.
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January 3, 2011
Panhandle Conference women's teams loaded with height
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — If tall players grew on trees, women’s basketball coaches in the Panhandle Conference would be orchardists. Every team in a loaded conference has stocked up on players 6 feet tall or better, and that size advantage has manifested itself in the state poll released weekly. Panhandle teams comprise the top five spots in the poll and boast a combined record of 68-10. Gulf Coast Community College opens conference play at 4:30 p.m. CST today at Tallahassee, and the Lady Commodores will be challenged by a team putting the “tall” in Tallahassee with six players 6-3 or more.
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December 30, 2010
GC women defeat Santa Fe
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - GAINESVILLE — LaQuinta Jefferson scored 20 points to lead a trio of double-figure scorers at Gulf Coast overcame a four-point halftime deficit. Bre’anna Lewis and Kyra Crosby each added 18 for the Lady Commodores (10-3). “Those three came up with some big plays in the second half,” Gulf Coast coach Roonie Scovel said. “We made some defensive stops.” Gulf Coast travels to Ocala to play the College of Central Florida at 1 p.m. CST on Sunday. It is the Lady Commodores final nonconference game of the season. “We are playing three pretty tough games (before conference season), which will definitely help us get ready,” Scovel said. Gulf Coast opens its Panhandle Conference season at 4:30 p.m. CST Tuesday at Tallahassee Community College.

December 29, 2010
GC women defeat Daytona Beach
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - GAINESVILLE — Four Gulf Coast players scored in double-figures, led by Bre’Anna Lewis’ 16 points, as the Lady Commodores overcame a nine-point deficit in the second half to rally for a win over Daytona Beach. “We started making some defensive stops and pulled back into the game,” said Gulf Coast coach Roonie Scovel. The Lady Commodores finally took the lead for good with 3 minutes remaining and pulled away for the eight-point win. Kyra Crosby and Ashley Rush each added 15 points, and Porsha Harris had 13. Harris and Crosby each had 11 rebounds to complete double-doubles. “It was a good win for us,” Scovel said. “We’d only had one practice because of the nightmare of traveling.” Gulf Coast (9-3) plays Santa Fe College at 3 p.m. CST today in Gainesville. Including today’s game, the Lady Commodores have two more games before opening Panhandle Conference on Tuesday.

December 20, 2010
GC women ride complete performance to victory
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — Any team with aspirations of beating the Gulf Coast Community College women’s basketball team has to get back in transition defense. As many opponents have realized in futile efforts to impede the Lady Commodores’ fast break, even that doesn’t guarantee success. Gulf Coast put together a complete performance Saturday in a 94-59 victory over Florida State College-Jacksonville in the Lady Commodore Holiday Classic at the Billy Harrison Field House.
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December 19, 2010
Lady Commodores easily end two-game skid
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — The Gulf Coast Community College women’s basketball team got a chance to stretch its legs and run Friday afternoon. And run and run. The Lady Commodores put an emphatic end to a two-game losing skid, opening up a 30-point lead in the first half on the way to an 84-28 rout of Bishop State during the first day of the Lady Commodore Holiday Classic at the Billy Harrison Field House.
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December 4, 2010
Basketball: Gulf Coast teams post blowout victories
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - GAINESVILLE —Gulf Coast won its second game in two days in the Florida JUCO Shootout on Saturday with a 77-59 triumph over Daytona Beach State. The Lady Commodores, 6-1, were led by Porsha Harris with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Kyra Crosby scored 21 points and added six rebounds. LaQuinta Jefferson had 14 points, Ashley Rush had 13 points and six assists and Britney McCloud 10 points in a balanced scoring output. This coming weekend the Lady Commodores will travel to Vincennes, Ind., for a two-day tournament. Gulf Coast will meet Wabash Valley College at 4 p.m. CST Friday, and on Saturday meet host Vincennes University at 2 p.m. Vincennes handed Gulf Coast its lone loss of the season on Nov. 20 at the Billy Harrison Field House.

November 30, 2010
Pensacola, GCCC still 1-2 in state women's poll
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — The Gulf Coast Community College women’s basketball team remained second behind Panhandle Conference rival Pensacola State in the FCCAA Top 10 state coaches poll released Tuesday. Pensacola (9-0) was a unanimous selection for No. 1, acquiring 14 first-place votes and 140 points. Panhandle teams swept the first five spots in the poll, and Gulf Coast (4-1) was second with 119 points. The Lady Commodores, who play in a tournament Gainesville on Friday and Saturday, were followed in the Top 5 by Tallahassee (5-1, 110), Northwest Florida State (8-1, 92) and Chipola (7-3, 90).
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November 23, 2010
GC women fall from state's top spot
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — The Gulf Coast Community College women’s basketball team has lost its place atop the FCCAA state poll after the Top-10 was announced Tuesday. The Lady Commodores (4-1) split two games over the weekend in the Gulf Coast Classic, following its first loss of the year against Vincennes University on Saturday with a victory over Georgia Perimeter on Sunday afternoon. Pensacola played at the same tournament and beat those same two teams to supplant GC at No. 1 with an 8-0 record.
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November 21, 2010
GC overcomes mistakes, pulls away from Ga. Perimeter
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — The Gulf Coast Community College women’s basketball team got a wake-up call Saturday night. The Lady Commodores nearly needed another one Sunday afternoon. Gulf Coast overcame a bevy of its own mistakes, ultimately turning to a zone defense that fueled a 14-0 run in the second half in a 78-66 victory over Georgia Perimeter in the Gulf Coast Shootout at the Billy Harrison Field House.
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November 21, 2010
Vincennes hands GC first nonconference home loss since '05
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — Vincennes University was traveling into a region where aspirations go to die, facing No. 3-ranked Pensacola and top-ranked Gulf Coast in the Women’s Basketball Shootout hosted by the defending national champion Lady Commodores. Evidently the Lady Trailblazers didn’t get the memo that the Panhandle Conference is the premier league in the country.
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November 18, 2010
Basketball: Gulf Coast Shootout starts on Friday
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — The Gulf Coast Community College women’s basketball team will host its annual Gulf Coast Shootout beginning Friday, although the Lady Commodores won’t play until Saturday. Vincennes University plays GC’s Panhandle Conference rival Pensacola College Friday at 5 p.m. at the Billy Harrison Field House. Gulf Coast hosts Vincennes Saturday at 7 p.m., and Pensacola is slated to play Georgia Perimeter at 5 p.m. GC concludes the four-team event with a game against Georgia Perimeter Sunday at 1 p.m.
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November 16, 2010
Crosby named FCCAA Player of the Week
FCCAA Sports (By Rob Chaney ) - Tallahassee, FL — Gulf Coast Community College’s Kyra Crosby is this week’s FCCAA Women’s Basketball Player of the Week. Crosby, a sophomore from Atlanta, Ga., averaged 23.5 points and 8.5 rebounds and shot 59.4 percent from the floor (19-of-32) in two games at last weekend’s Collegiate Girls Basketball Report Classic. Against then-No. 8 Santa Fe on November 12, Crosby recorded a double-double – 28 points and ten rebounds – in the Lady Commodores’ 83-71 win over the Lady Saints. The next day, against NJCAA No. 5 Monroe, Crosby had 19 points and seven rebounds in Gulf Coast’s 32-point victory.
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November 16, 2010
Six GC athletes sign with four-year schools
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — Six Gulf Coast Community College athletes took advantage of the NCAA’s early signing period to further their collegiate careers after this school year. Signings were announced for men’s and women’s basketball and baseball. None were released for softball, as of Tuesday.
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November 14, 2010
Basketball: GC Women now 3-0
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - MARIANNA — Bre Anna Lewis scored 22 points and Kyra Crosby had 19 as the Gulf Coast women’s team raced past Monroe Community College. Caitlin Rowe, LaQuinta Jefferson and Ashley Rush each had 10 points for the 3-0 Lady Commodores.
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November 12, 2010
Basketball: GC women move to 2-0
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - MARIANNA — Top-rated Gulf Coast moved to 2-0 on the young season Friday with an 83-71 win over Santa Fe College in women’s junior college basketball. The game was played at Chipola College. The Lady Commodores continued to show some growing pains, however, despite 28 points and 10 rebounds by Kyra Crosby. They surrendered 10 3-pointers in the first half while leading just 43-39 at intermission. “Much better offensively, but defensively we’ve got a long way to go,” Coach Roonie Scovel compared to the opening win last week.
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November 9, 2010
GC women stay No. 1
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY - The Gulf Coast Community College women’s basketball team remained the top-ranked team in the state in the FCCAA coaches poll released Tuesday. The Lady Commodores, who rallied to beat Miami Dade in Marianna last Friday in their only game so far this season, received five first-place votes and 107 total points in the poll. Pensacola, which received four first-place votes, and Chipola are tied for second in the poll with 98 points. Tallahassee earned two first-place votes and is fourth with 94 points, and another Panhandle Conference team, Northwest Florida State, is seventh with 47.
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November 5, 2010
Basketball: GC women rally for win over Miami Dade
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - MARIANNA — The basketball court sometimes isn’t much of a place for individuality. The Gulf Coast Community College women’s basketball team nearly learned that lesson the hard way on Friday before rallying for a season-opening 73-67 victory over Miami Dade in the Milton H. Johnson Classic at Chipola College.
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October 26, 2010
Gulf Coast women open at No. 1
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — Defending national champion Gulf Coast Community College is ranked No. 1 in junior college women’s basketball coming off its 35-1 title-winning season. The Lady Commodores won the Panhandle Conference last season and are joined in the rankings by league rivals Pensacola State College (14th) and Tallahassee Community College (29th). Northwest Florida State is ranked fifth in the men’s opening poll. The defending Panhandle Conference champion trails Midland College (No. 1), Howard College, North Idaho College and Hutchinson Community College. Chipola College, is ranked eighth.
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October 20, 2010
GC women's preview: Crosby gives it a running start
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — Kyra Crosby would be a one-woman fast break if passing to herself didn’t break the rules. "She’s one of the best, if not the best, running the floor in this country in the post,” Gulf Coast Community College women’s basketball Roonie Scovel said. “I just hope we can find her. We’ve got a lot of freshmen who have to find her, make that play, make that pass and see everything. We had a scrimmage Saturday night and Kyra scored 32 points. I think 24-plus was on layups.”
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October 4, 2010
Basketball: GC hoops season opens Nov. 5
NEWS HERALD (By Jason Shoot ) - PANAMA CITY — The basketball teams at Gulf Coast Community College officially begin their respective seasons Nov. 5. The Lady Commodores head to Marianna to square off with Broward College in the season-opening Milton H. Johnson Classic at Chipola’s Milton Johnson Health Center. The Commodore men travel to Aiken, S.C., to play Aiken Technical College. The two teams will play three scrimmages before the season starts. Gulf Coast’s men will host a scrimmage Oct. 12 at the Billy Harrison Field House at 6 p.m. and also make trips for scrimmages in Tallahassee on Oct. 9 and Montgomery, Ala., on Oct. 23. The Lady Commodores will scrimmage in Mobile, Ala., on Oct. 16, Andalusia, Ala., on Oct. 23, and Tallahassee on Oct. 30.
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