Tournament time for Lady Ospreys

Wednesday, December 17

Jacksonville, Fla.

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

Longwood

The two-day tournament features games at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Wed. and Thurs.

12/16/2008 1:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball

UNF faces Longwood and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

By: Adam Jonson, UNF Athletics

Game Notes

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida women's basketball team will host the Lady Osprey Holiday Classic for the second-straight season, welcoming Jacksonville State, Longwood and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to UNF Arena for the two-day event, which begins on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

UNF (2-5, 1-1 Atlantic Sun) plays the nightcap on both days of action, first facing Longwood (3-4) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. before closing the round-robin action with a matchup against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2-6) on Thursday at 7 p.m. Corpus Christi and Jacksonville State tip off action at 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Jacksonville State and Longwood square off in Thursday's first game.

The Lady Ospreys have faced both of this week's opponents in the last two seasons, most recently battling Corpus Christi at the Lady Eagle Classic in Hattiesburg, Miss. (hosted by Southern Mississippi) last season. Led by senior Jennifer Guldager's 11 points and nine rebounds, UNF knocked off the Islanders, 51-43, in the first-ever meeting between the two.

The first and only meeting between UNF and Longwood came just eight days into the 2006-07 season when the Lady Ospreys participated in Longwood's Lancer Invitational. Competing for the tournament title, the Lady Ospreys stormed back from a late 10-point deficit to pull as close as four points with 19 ticks left but eventually fell, 52-45.

This season, UNF dropped the first three games of the season, including a home loss to then- No. 21 ranked Florida State. The Lady Ospreys then strung together two-straight wins against Wofford and Belmont in the conference opener but had that streak reversed with losses to Lipscomb and South Florida.

Longwood most recently picked up a home win against George Mason on Dec. 4. Before then, the Lancers had lost three-straight, including two home games and a road contest against A-Sun member Campbell.

The Lady Islanders have dropped five of their last six with the only win coming in the Aggie Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic in Las Cruces, N.M., against Western New Mexico. Corpus Christi's only other win of the season came at home against Texas-Southern in the opening week of the season.

When: Wednesday, Dec. 17 – 7 p.m.; Thursday, Dec. 18 – 7 p.m.

Where: UNF Arena

Admission: Free

ASUN.TV: Click here (coverage begins at 6:45 p.m.)

Live Stats: Click here (begins at 7 p.m.)

UNF's Record: 2-5 (1-0 A-Sun)

Longwood's Record: 3-4

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Record: 2-6

Series: UNF/Longwood – Longwood leads, 1-0; UNF/TAMU-CC – UNF leads, 1-0

Last Meeting: UNF/Longwood – Longwood won, 52-45 (at Longwood on 11/18/07); UNF/TAMU-CC – UNF won, 51-43 (in Hattiesburg, Miss., on 11/24/07)

Who's Hot: Two Lady Ospreys made their first start of the season in UNF's last outing – junior Arlande Cherizol and sophomore Brittany Jones. Jones played a season-high 22 minutes while Cherizol posted UNF-career numbers in minutes (29), points (8) and rebounds (6).

Quoting Coach Tappmeyer: "It's always exciting to play at home. We've had good crowds so far this season and hope our promotions bring in nice crowds for the tournament. It will be good for the girls to regroup and play on our own floor after finishing finals last week, and hopefully we can send them all home with two early Christmas presents."

Gameday Notables: UNF is in its final season of the four-year transition into Division I … the Lady Ospreys are 2-2 all-time when playing on Dec. 17 and 3-2 on Dec. 18 … the Lady Ospreys are coming off their best finish since entering the transitional period, finishing with a 13-16 overall record and 8-8 A-Sun record in 2007-08 … seniors Jennifer Bowen and Guldager will steer the program once again, having been with the team through every season of the reclassification process.

Promotions: Wednesday – fathers are encouraged to bring their daughters to celebrate "Daddy/Daughter Night" and public servants will be recognized as part of "Public Servant Appreciation Night" … fans can win gift cards from various merchants with the UNF Christmas Bonanza promotion, and all fans will also receive a "buy-one-get-one-free" coupon to Smoothie King … Thursday – as part of "Mom Appreciation Night," all moms are encouraged to bring their children out for some exciting women's basketball action … fans can win gift cards from various merchants with the UNF Christmas Bonanza promotion and a special family night concessions deal that features a jumbo hot dog, a box of popcorn and a 16 oz. soft drink for just $5 will be offered … all fans will also receive a "buy-one-get-one-free" coupon to Smoothie King.