UWF men's basketball falls in first round of NCAA Tournament, swimmer breaks multiple NCAA records
· Yahoo Sports
On March 8, UWF men's basketball won at West Alabama to win the Gulf South Conference tournament championship and clinch a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 2018.
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Six days later, No. 3 seed West Alabama ended the No. 6 seed Argos season, besting UWF 58-53 in the South Regional quarterfinals at Nova Southeastern in Davie.
West Alabama (27-5) and UWF (25-9) split the four matchups between the two teams this season, though the Tigers won the one that mattered most.
They'll play No. 7 seed University of Alabama-Huntsville in the South Regional Semifinals on March 15.
UWF's Colby McAlister scored a team-high 12 points off the bench, while West Alabama's Jakobe Singleton poured in a game-high 18 points off the bench.
The game featured 12 lead changes and was tied 29-29 at halftime before West Alabama pulled away in the second half.
Ryan Payne's fast break layup put the Argos ahead 35-33 with 15:41 left in the second half, and Sano Ratutaika hit a jumper with 14:05 remaining to double the lead.
That was UWF's biggest lead in the second half. Singleton put the Tigers in front for good on a jumper with 10:22 remaining as part of a 19-4 run that extended West Alabama's lead to 56-43 with 58 seconds left. The Argos answered with a 10-0 run over the next 53 seconds to trim the lead down to three, but Singleton hit two free throws with four seconds left to ice the game.
The loss ends an incredible turnaround season for the Argos, who won just 16 games combined the previous two seasons. UWF was playing in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time.
Naskret breaks multiple NCAA Records at Division II championships
UWF Senior Agata Naskret led the Argos to their highest ever finish at the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships, which took place March 10-14 at Deaconness Aquatic Center in Evansville, Indiana.
Naskret broke individual records in the 100-yard backstroke (50.91 seconds), 200 backstroke (1:52.90) and teamed up with Alena Rozova, Livia Rodrigues and Sofija Kendzior to break the 400 medley relay record (3:35.21). Neskret led off that relay in a then-NCAA Division II record time of 51.24 before breaking the record again in the 100 backstroke individual final the next night.
The Argos as a team finished fourth with 298.5 points.
Naskret also finished third in the 50 freestyle (22.55), third in the 200 medley relay (1:38.53), sixth in the 400 freestyle relay (3:21.02) and seventh in the 200 freestyle relay (1:32.06), She was also one of 12 Argos All-Americans at the meet.
Sofija Kendzior (200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay), Riley McVane (200 freestyle relay), Adria Mieses-Sanchez (1-meter diving), Olivia Nelson (3-meter diving), Livia Rodrigues (200 individual medley, 400 freestyle relay 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay) and Alena Rozova (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay) garnered first team All-American honors by finishing in the top eight in their respective events.
Tori Johnston (800 freestyle relay), Kendzior (200 freestyle, 800 freestyle relay), McVane (500 freestyle, 1650 freestyle, 800 freestyle relay), Mieses-Sanchez (3-meter diving) and Livia Rodrigues (200 butterfly, 800 freestyle relay) garned second team All-American honors by finishing ninth through 16th in their respective events.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: UWF swimmer breaks NCAA records at championships