University of North Florida
Columbus State
Depleted UNF Squad Can't Keep up with Columbus State
2/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Jan. 12, 2005) - The University of North Florida women's basketball team made a strong second-half run, but it wasn't enough to overcome a 19-point halftime deficit in a 77-62 loss to Columbus State on Wednesday at UNF Arena.
UNF was without the services of Kim Smith, Jamala Mitchell and Anna Haberlein forcing the team to shorten its bench. The result was the Lady Ospreys (6-8, 0-3 PBC) fourth loss in a row and third-straight loss in conference play.
"I thought we really battled back in the second half," UNF head coach Mary Tappmeyer said. "We just dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first half. We made a charge in the second half, but the fatigue finally set in."
Despite the 19-point deficit, UNF cut the CSU (10-4, 3-0 PBC) lead to eight on a Karli Knudsen jumper with 1:06 to play.
Knudsen continued her hot shooting from the field, setting a second-straight career high with 15 points. Nine of her points came beyond the 3-point arc, but they weren't enough to keep Columbus State from sealing the game at the free throw line.
Brittney Davis matched Knudsen's team-high 15 points and also collected seven rebounds. Jackie Beik was the third UNF player in double figures, scoring 12 points for the Lady Ospreys.
Lucia Heston led a pack of four players that scored in double figures for the Lady Cougars, finishing the game with 18 points.
UNF hung with the Lady Cougars early, taking an early 3-0 lead on a Beik 3-pointer. Tabasha Taylor countered from there with a CSU 3-pointer to help spring the Lady Cougars to an 11-4 lead.
Chealsea Headley's layup gave UNF its last lead of the game at 16-15, before CSU turned up the defensive pressure and went on a 29-9 run to close the half. Heston took care of most of the damage for Columbus, scoring 14 points in the first half.
CSU also nailed 7-of-9 shots beyond the 3-point arc in the opening frame, but cooled off in the second half, hitting only 1-of-6.
Columbus won the battle of the boards 43-34, while UNF turned the ball over 16 times, compared to 12 for the Lady Cougars.
North Florida is in conference action again this Saturday when it travels to Augusta State for a 2 p.m. tipoff. Coverage of the game will be available on 1010-AM WIOJ and on the World Wide Web at www.unf.edu/sports.
