Bucs Fall In National Championship Game; Posts Highest Finish in School History

CASPER, Wyom. - The Shelton State women's basketball team post season run ended with a 62-53 loss to Northwest Florida State in the NJCAA Division I National Championship game on Tuesday night.

Shelton State (31-5) finished as the national runner up, the highest finish in program history. 

Head coach Madonna Thompson has guided the Bucs to 19 national tournament appearances, including five Final Four trips. The 2025 season marked the Bucs first trip to the finals. 

Northwest Florida State (32-3) captured its third National Championship in the last five years. The Raiders won the title in 2021, 2023 and 2025. They finished runner up to Hutchinson CC in 2024. 

The Bucs, who trailed by double digits most of the second half, made a late run to cut the deficit to 56-53 with just under two minutes to play.

Down 12 with three minutes left, the Bucs scored the next nine points to pull to within three. 

Janiyah Bone started the run with a 3-pointer and added a jumper to make it 56-49.

Hobdy followed with a steal and a layup and Alana Obianozie added a layup to pull the Bucs to within 56-53.

The Bucs could get no closer and the Raiders scored the final six points to seal the win. 

Hobdy and Thomas were named to the All-Tournament Team. 

Hobdy averaged 14.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.6 steals in four games.

Thomas had two double-doubles and averaged 10.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in four games.

NWFS led 20-14 at the end of the first quarter and 34-28 at halftime. 

The Raiders pushed to lead to double digits in the third quarter and took its largest lead at 43-30 with 6:22 left in the quarter.

Obianozie, Hobdy and CoCo Thomas all scored double figures for the Bucs.

Obianozie led the team with 15 points and eight rebounds. Thomas had another double-double with 12 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Hobdy had 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. 

Naveah Scott led the Raiders with 25 points.