3-point barrage too much for UNF

Saturday, January 24

Fort Myers, Fla.

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

Florida Gulf Coast University

Arlande Cherizol pulled down 12 rebounds to lead all players.

1/24/2009 9:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Lady Ospreys fall to FGCU 63-46

By: Shawn LaFata

Box Score

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Florida Gulf Coast women's basketball team hit eight shots beyond the 3-point arc in the second half of play and 13 for the game to overcome a small halftime deficit and rally for a 63-46 win against the University of North Florida at Alico Arena.

The Lady Osprey (3-16, 2-8 A-Sun) defense stifled the Eagles (14-4, 7-3) in the opening half, holding Florida Gulf Coast to 23 points while taking a one-point advantage before the first 20 minutes expired. Kelsey Jacobson led the Eagle attack with five baskets from long range, helping her team blister the nets in the second half with a 68.2 shooting percentage.

Jacobson led all players with 17 points, edging out teammate Chelsea Lyles, who finished the game with 15.

Brittany Kirkland followed up her career-high 23 points at Stetson with 15 points for the Lady Ospreys, while Jennifer Bowen had 11 points for UNF.

UNF did all of its damage in the paint in the first five minutes of play, scoring its first six points inside. Florida Gulf Coast countered with a pair of 3-pointers and was able to gain an early 8-6 advantage, with all of its points coming on jump shots. Cherizol had a couple of those points on a put-back after an offensive rebound. The UNF junior grabbed five offensive rebounds in the first eight minutes of play.

Kirkland hit UNF's first 3-pointer of the game and Juliemay Syquio followed that up with a jumper in the lane to give the Lady Ospreys an 11-10 advantage.

FGCU took a 12-11 lead before the teams settled into a defensive battle for the next five minutes of play. The Eagles were able to eventually get their offense going, scoring the next five points before Kirkland broke the run with a jumper and Bowen followed her with a basket the next trip down the court to make it a 17-15 contest. A couple of FGCU 3-pointers by Jacobson and Kristine Herman pushed the Eagles' lead back to 23-15 at the 3:52 mark of the first half.

That was the last bucket the Eagles would muster in the opening half. The Lady Ospreys mixed their defenses between a half court trap and a zone defense for the rest of the frame, leading to points on the offensive end. The Lady Ospreys scored the last nine points of the half to carry a 24-23 lead into the locker room. Bowen started the UNF run with a 3-pointer from the left wing, while her fellow senior, Jennifer Guldager, topped it off with a pair of free throws that gave the Lady Ospreys the lead.

Kirkland led UNF with nine points in the half, hitting 4-of-8 shots from the field to go along with two assists. All 24 of UNF's points in the half came from the team's starting five.

Brittany Brown and Shannon Murphy each had six points to lead the Eagles. UNF held a 22-11 rebounding advantage, with Cherizol pulling down eight of those boards.

Florida Gulf Coast quickly went up 10 points to open the second half of play, hitting its first six shots from the field, including four 3-pointers. Chelsea Lyles made three of those shots from long range and scored 10 points in the first six minutes of the half after scoring just five in the opening half.

Jacobson pushed the FGCU lead to 43-32 with the team's fifth 3-pointer of the half and the Eagles kept knocking them down from there, matching UNF's two-point baskets with 3-pointers and eventually upping the advantage to 16.

UNF owned the boards, outrebounding the Eagles 39-26. Cherizol had 12 of those rebounds for UNF, which pulled down 20 offensive boards compared to 19 on the defensive end. The Lady Ospreys forced FGCU into 18 turnovers – with nine of those coming on steals – and gave the ball away 15 times. Kirkland added three steals and three assists to go along with a block to her totals on the night. Syquio led all players with five assists.

The Lady Ospreys are back in action on Thursday when they host USC Upstate in a 7 p.m. contest at UNF Arena.