The 2016 FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Women's State Basketball Championship kicks off Thursday, March 3 in Ocala, Fla. Get a preview of the Top 8 teams hitting the court in search of a state championship title.

The 2016 FCSAA/NJCAA District VIII Men's and Women's State Basketball Championship tentative brackets have been released. The brackets will be updated in February once teams qualify.

Benji Bell scored 15 of his game-high 25 points to lead Northwest Florida State to a 76-69 win over Eastern Florida State in the FCSAA/ NJCAA Region VIII Championship Game.

Chipola's Evelyn Akhator rewrote the FCSAA/ NJCAA Region VIII Tournament record book and led her team to its second straight tournament championship.

Northwest Florida State dominated from start to finish in a 99-75 rout of Miami Dade. The Raiders will take on Eastern Florida State in the final at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

With Region VIII having two automatic bids due to it being a zone qualifier for the first time ever, the Titans' 92-85 overtime win over St. Petersburg College in the tournament earned them a spot to the national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.

Tia Sanders scored the go-ahead basket with 2:21 left to start a game-closing 12-2 run that led Northwest Florida State past Gulf Coast State 73-65 in the NJCAA Region VIII semifinals

The College of Central Florida women's basketball team gave Chipola College all it could handle on Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Region VIII Tourament, before Evelyn Akhator took over.