University of North Florida
Bethune Cookman
Last second shot falls short
11/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2005
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. University of North Florida guard Denisia Andrew's last second prayer from beyond the 3-point arc was unanswered after it hit the back of the rim in the Lady Ospreys' 55-53 loss at Bethune-Cookman Tuesday night in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Andrews grabbed a Cherica Henry missed rebound with four seconds left on the clock, before driving the length of the floor and throwing up a 3-pointer at the buzzer. It hit off the back of the iron, dropping the Lady Ospreys to 1-1 on the season and allowing BCC to capture a win in its season opener.
The game featured six lead changes and two double-digit leads by the Lady Wildcats that UNF was forced to come back from.
"We played a lot of young kids tonight and they were in some situations that they weren't used to," UNF head coach Mary Tappmeyer said.
Despite some mistakes by the younger players on the court, UNF's senior duo of Jackie Beik and Kayla Sheldon were able to lead the Ospreys. Sheldon scored a career-high 13 points, while Beik also finished with 13 points and three rebounds.
Beik, however, was called for one of three UNF offensive fouls late in the game that gave the ball back to Bethune-Cookman.
The Lady Wildcats couldn't take advantage of those opportunities, giving the ball away to UNF on two turnovers, before missing their last four free throws.
Freshman Keturah Newkirk missed two of those free throws, but captured her own rebound after the second miss. She then fed the ball to Henry, who was fouled and missed two free throws as well, leading to Andrew's rebound and last second shot.
Newkirk and Clark led the Lady Wildcats with 13 points apiece.
BCC out-rebounded UNF 39-38 and blocked 10 Lady Osprey shots, compared to four UNF blocks.
The Lady Ospreys got off to a slow start out of the gates, falling behind 16-6 before Sheldon hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 16-9.
UNF rallied from there, thanks to a full court trap that helped produce 21 BCC turnovers on the night.
Alana Mountfield eventually gave the Lady Ospreys a 32-24 advantage - its biggest of the night - after scoring two of her 10 points on a layup that followed a BCC turnover. Bethune countered with a 5-0 run to end the half and continued that rally with the first four points of the second half.
BCC led by as many as 12 in the second half of play, before the Lady Ospreys cut it to a 54-53 deficit. Clark hit a free throw after the final media timeout for the final point of the game.
UNF returns to action when it travels to Grand Bahama Island on Friday and Saturday for the Bahamas Junkanoo Jam. The Lady Ospreys will square off with seventh-ranked Rutgers on Friday at 8:30 p.m. before facing off with either Iowa State or N.C. State on Saturday.
