Lady Ospreys head north for winter break

Game Notes

Pennsylvania Blog

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida women's basketball team suits up for two more games before jumping into conference action, taking part in Lehigh's Christmas City Classic, which begins Dec. 29, in Bethlehem, Pa.

The Lady Ospreys (2-7, 1-1 Atlantic Sun) face the host school on the tournament's opening night for UNF's first action in 10 days. The Lady Ospreys fell in their last two outings – matchups against Longwood and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Lady Osprey Holiday Classic.

Lehigh (8-3) sports a two-game winning streak and has won three of its last four. The lone loss in that stretch came at the hands of Villanova by six points. The Mountain Hawks opened the season with a win and then went on a four-game winning streak after dropping the second game of the season. Alex Ross leads the squad with 14.4 points per game, followed by Erica Prosser at 13.8 points per game. Tricia Smith tops the team with 6.5 rebounds per outing.

On the tournament's closing night (Tuesday, Dec. 30), the Lady Ospreys will face either LaSalle or Valparaiso, depending on the results from Monday night. Valparaiso and LaSalle square off in the tournament's opening game at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.

Valparaiso's scoring is lead by four players in double figures, including Agnieszka Kulaga with 17.4 points per game and Aimee Litka with 13.1. The Crusaders have faced three-straight top-25 teams, knocking off No. 21 Purdue in the first game of the stretch. Valparaiso fell by eight to No. 8 Notre Dame before dropping a double-digit decision to No. 22 South Dakota State.

The LaSalle Explorers moved their current winning streak to three games in their last contest – a 16-point win over Rider. The Explorers opened the season with a pair of wins and dropped a pair before putting together their current streak. Morgan Robertson averages 13.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game to lead LaSalle.

When: Monday, Dec. 29 – 7:30 pm.; Tuesday, Dec. 30 – 5:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.

Where: Bethlehem, Pa. (Stabler Arena)

Live Video: Click here

UNF's Record: 2-7 (1-1 A-Sun)

Lehigh's Record: 8-3

LaSalle's Record: 7-5

Valparaiso's Record: 4-4

Series: UNF/Lehigh – Lehigh leads, 1-0; UNF/LaSalle – First meeting; UNF/Valparaiso – First meeting

Last Meeting: UNF/Lehigh – Nov. 30, 2007 (Lehigh won 54-50 at UNF Arena)

Who's Hot: Sophomore Juliemay Syquio has averaged 16.7 minutes per contest over UNF's last three outings, thefting a team-high six steals, dishing a team second-best seven assists and scoring an average of 5.3 points. In that time, she has connected on .583 percent of her attempts from the field and knocked down her lone attempts from the 3-point and free-throw lines.

Quoting Coach Tappmeyer: "This will be a tremendous challenge for us. It's a very different type of league than we are used to seeing. I think that taking our team to a different atmosphere and experience all the different styles you play against will make us stronger. We will use this tournament as a way of working on some thing and getting ready for conference. Regardless of what happens in the rest of the season, you always play for a conference championship."

Gameday Notables: UNF is in its final season of the four-year transition into Division I … the Lady Ospreys are 4-2 all-time when playing on Dec. 29 and 7-5 on Dec. 30 … UNF's current four-game skid is the longest of the season and the longest in two seasons … 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.

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