University of North Florida
Bethune Cookman
Same teams, same game, better result
12/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida and Bethune-Cookman women's basketball teams met for the second time this season on Friday night at UNF Arena and played a game that looked strangely familiar to the first.
Only this time the outcome was a little different, as UNF (2-5) weathered a late BCC (2-3) rally to win 47-45. The victory kept the Lady Ospreys perfect in home openers (14-0) and snapped the team's five-game losing streak.
"It was a big win for our team as far as our confidence goes," UNF head coach Mary Tappmeyer said.
Three Lady Ospreys scored in double figures in the win, led by Andrea Dill who scored 14 and finished tied for a game high with seven rebounds.
In the first meeting between the two schools, it was UNF taking advantage of a missed BCC free throw to get a last-second look at a 3-point attempt. UNF's Tamara Hubbard missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation with 15 seconds to play Friday to allow BCC one last possession. Casandra Calcagno missed a shot on the blocks with three seconds to play and Keturah Newkirk missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have given the Lady Wildcats the win.
In the opening meeting between the teams it was UNF's Denisia Andrews missing a heave to the basket at the buzzer that secured the win for BCC.
Two themes that also carried over to game two were the fact that both teams overcame large deficits to either tie or take a lead and neither team could get its offensive going down the stretch. Nobody posted a point in the final three minutes of either contest.
Bethune held a 17-8 lead in the opening half of play, before the Lady Ospreys cut it to a 24-19 deficit at the break. UNF eventually took an 11-point lead in the second half before Bethune rallied to tie the game 45-45 behind a pair of Newkirk 3-pointers.
She finished the game with 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting beyond the arc.
Hubbard hit what turned out to be the game-winning free throws with 3:11 to play.
Kyla Morton missed two free throws with 31 seconds to play, which would have tied the game for BCC, while the Lady Ospreys were able to force two turnovers down the stretch to deny Bethune-Cookman looks at the basket.
BCC's Katie Clark led all players with 17 points to go along with five rebounds. Hubbard and Alana Mountfield each scored 10 points for the Lady Ospreys, while Jackie Beik was held in check on the offensive end, but finished tied for a game high with seven rebounds.
After a two-game absence because a knee injury, point guard Kayla Sheldon returned to the court, finishing the game with four rebounds and three assists in 19 minutes of action.
"Kayla's presence on the floor really helped us tonight," Tappmeyer said. "Denisia [Andrews] and Antoinette [Reames] provided us with some quality time off the bench. We're working Lena [Korsakova] in slowly and hopefully by the time conference play starts again we will be healthy."
Korsakova - playing in only her second game of the year - saw five minutes of action, pulling down two rebounds, while Reames scored six points, pulled down two boards and had a block in seven minutes off the bench.
UNF travels to Indiana on Tuesday to take on the Hoosiers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST and can be heard live on the web at www.unfospreys.com.
