University of North Florida
Clayton State
Lakers Drown UNF in Conference Opener
2/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Jan. 5, 2005) - Despite holding Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week Jamika Hindsman to only three points, the University of North Florida women's basketball team dropped its Peach Belt Conference season opener 58-46 to Clayton College & State Wednesday.
The loss was the third in a row for UNF and third-straight at home after the Lady Ospreys had compiled a 21-game home winning streak over the last two seasons.
"They have some fresh faces that have come in and have made them a very aggressive and athletic team," UNF coach Mary Tappmeyer said. "We made a strong effort at the end, but couldn't make up the difference."
The Lady Ospreys (6-6, 0-1 PBC) held Clayton State (9-3, 1-0 PBC) without a field goal for the last 6:24, but couldn't recover from a 21-point deficit.
The Lady Lakers were able to seal the game from the free throw line, not allowing UNF to squeak any closer than 10. Tamara Hubbard cut the Clayton State lead to 52-42 with 1:58 to play, and UNF had a chance to slice further into the deficit, but failed to get a shot off after forcing two-straight turnovers.
Hubbard scored a career high for UNF with 16 points to go along with a pair of rebounds. Brittney Davis followed Hubbard with 14 points and tied Clayton's April Taylor with a game-high eight rebounds.
Taylor led Clayton State with 11 points, while Shanakie Ward finished with 10.
UNF fed the Lady Lakers a heavy dose of Davis in the opening half, as the senior helped the Lady Ospreys to a 16-15 advantage. Clayton rallied from there and went on an 11-1 run, before Hubbard finally stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer. Davis closed out the half with her first made free throw of the game and the Lady Ospreys trailed 26-21 at the break.
Clayton came out of the locker room with an 18-8 run before eventually upping its lead to 21 points.
With the victory, the Lady Lakers moved within one win of their 2003-04 win total of 10.
UNF will try to snap its three-game losing skid on the road this weekend when it travels to USC Upstate for a 2 p.m. tipoff with the Lady Spartans. Coverage of the game begins at 2 p.m. on 1010-Am WIOJ.
