Lady Ospreys drop tournament opener

Monday, December 29

Bethlehem, Penn.

7:30 p.m.

University of North Florida

Lehigh University

Brittany Jones scored eight points for the Lady Ospreys.

12/29/2008 9:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Ten different players crack scoreboard

By: Shawn LaFata

Box Score

Pennsylvania Blog

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The University of North Florida women's basketball team dropped a 67-47 contest Monday night to host Lehigh in the opening round of the Christmas City Classic at Stabler Arena.

UNF (2-8) fell behind by 16 points at the half and managed to pull within 12 of Lehigh (9-3) in the second half but couldn't cut into the lead any further in losing their fifth-straight contest.

Ten different Lady Ospreys scored in the game but nobody was able to get out of double figures for UNF. Juliemay Syquio led the team with nine points, knocking down 3-of-4 shots beyond the 3-point arc while Brittany Jones followed her with eight.

UNF shot 29 percent from the field and turned the ball over 18 times.

The Lady Ospreys came out of the gates strong, taking an 8-5 advantage thanks to an inside game that saw the team score six of its first eight points in the paint. Jones scored four of those points, finishing a fast break with a layup before knocking down a jumper from the left wing.

The Lady Ospreys went away from their inside game for the next nine minutes of play, allowing Lehigh to gain a 21-14 advantage thanks to a 16-6 run. Bowen finally slowed down the run with a pullup jumper that made it a 24-17 contest, pulling the Lady Ospreys as close as they would get the rest of the way.

UNF was down 36-20 at the half. The Mountain Hawks' Erica Prosser led all players with seven points in the frame. Kayla Mobley scored five for the Lady Ospreys but couldn't help UNF improve on its 21.9 shooting percentage in the half.

The Lady Ospreys started to improve their shooting percentage in the second half after Jones hit a pair of jumpers to start the frame before Rachelle Rasley and Juliemay Syquio combined to hit three-straight 3-pointers, cutting the Redhawks' lead to 12. Lehigh kept the pressure on, however, as pushed its lead to as many as 26 points before cutting the final deficit to 20.

UNF was 11-of-30 from the field in the second half, shooting 36.7 percent overall. Lehigh shot 44.4 percent from the field and knocked down 13-of-16 shots from the free throw line.

The Mountain Hawks were able to control the boards as well, outrebounding the Lady Ospreys 47-32. Haly Crites, Claire Sullivan and Kristen Dalton all tied for a game-high six rebounds to lead Lehigh. Brittany Kirkland and Jennifer each had five rebounds to lead the Lady Ospreys.

Lehigh's Courtney Dentler was the only player in double figures for the night, scoring 16 points on the night after hitting 6-of-11 shots from the field.

The Lady Ospreys will return to the court on Tuesday at 5 p.m. for the Christmas City Classic consolation game against Valparaiso.