UNF tries to break Johnson City hex

Game Notes

The EastTennesseeState puzzle has been a hard one to solve for the University of North Florida women's basketball team since its entrance into the Atlantic Sun Conference.

The Buccaneers (8-10, 4-1 A-Sun) are the only team in the conference UNF (8-9, 3-2 A-Sun) has never beaten. A win against the Bucs would get UNF back into the conference race after the team fell out of a tie for second last week and into a tie for fourth with three other teams.

The Lady Ospreys, however, have not found Johnson City, Tenn., to their liking. UNF dropped its first meeting with ETSU 80-59 in 2006 before falling 87-48 last year. The 87 points surrendered were the most UNF has given up at the NCAA Division I level. ETSU comes into the contest winners of its last two games and its last three in conference play.

Sophomore Siarre Evans is among the leaders in the A-Sun, averaging 13.9 points a game, while the Lady Ospreys will also have to contend with the long-range threat of Michele DeVault, who has hit 34 shots beyond the 3-point arc this season.

UNF is hoping to get a boost from its offense with the return of leading scorer Jennifer Bowen, who returned to action in the team's SunTrust River City Rumble matchup with Jacksonville last week. Bowen showed some rust after being out of the lineup for a month, but the UNF coaching staff is hoping two full weeks of practice will help get her back into game shape.

When: Friday, 2 p.m.

Where: MemorialCenter (Johnson City, Tenn.)

On the Air: ASUN.TV

UNF's Record: 8-9, 3-2 A-Sun

ETSU's Record: 8-10, 4-1 A-Sun

Series: ETSU leads 4-0

Who's Hot: Jennifer Guldager has scored in double figures her last two outings, scoring 15 points against JU after scoring a career-high 17 points at Mercer, hitting 6-of-8 shots from the field ... UNF has not allowed an opponent to score more than 53 points in conference play thus far, allowing only 51.4 points in A-Sun contests.

Quoting Coach Tappmeyer: “This will be a huge challenge for us. ETSU is big and athletic and they play well at home. We have struggled at their place in the past, but this is a new team and a new year.”

Gameday Notables: Jennifer Bowen is only 11 points away from 500 in her career.

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