Jones performs well in loss

Friday, January 25

Johnson City, Tenn.

7:00 PM

University of North Florida

ETSU

Brittany Jones scored 10 points to go along with seven rebounds.

1/25/2008 9:28:45 PM | Women's Basketball

UNF drops a 57-39 contest at ETSU

Box Score

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The University of North Florida women's basketball team received 10 points off the bench from freshman Brittany Jones, but it wasn't enough in a 57-39 loss at East Tennessee State.

The loss kept the Lady Ospreys (8-10, 3-3 A-Sun) winless at ETSU (9-10, 5-1 A-Sun) and gave the team its second-straight loss.

The Lady Bucs had three players finish with double-digit point totals, led by TaRonda Wiles who scored a game-high 11 points.

UNF had trouble getting its offense jumpstarted, shooting only 26.3 percent on the night and 1-for-17 from beyond the 3-point arc. The Lady Osprey defense on the other hand held ETSU to 33.8 percent shooting and blocked four shots on the night. UNF's Shennette Sheffield finished tied with the Lady Bucs' Jenny Norman with three blocked shots.

Sheffield also added 10 points and five rebounds to her performance.

The game started off as a defensive battle, with ETSU grabbing an early lead and keeping UNF off the scoreboard. The Lady Ospreys scored their first basket at the 18:27 mark, but didn't score again until the 12:06 mark of the half. ETSU eventually opened an 11-point lead on a Kelly Turman jumper and took a 30-15 advantage into the locker room.

ETSU maintained that advantage in the second half, outscoring the Lady Ospreys 27-24 to build on a lead that it held all game.

The Lady Ospreys won the battle of the boards 47-45, while UNF turned the ball over 30 times on the night compared to 18 turnovers for the Bucs.

“If we can't start talking care of the ball and shooting it better, it won't matter how good our defense is,” UNF head coach Mary Tappmeyer said.

The Lady Ospreys were able to hold the top scoring team in the Atlantic Sun at bay, limiting ETSU, which has scored at least 72 points in every conference game this season, to only 59 points. UNF, however, has averaged 38.5 points its last two outings against the top two teams in the conference.

UNF returns home on Monday night for a 7 p.m. tilt with USC Upstate before taking on Campbell on Feb. 2 at 2 p.m.