Lady Ospreys fly past A-Sun frontrunner

Saturday, January 31

Jacksonville, Fla.

2 p.m.

University of North Florida

East Tennessee State University

Sophomore Juliemay Syquio put up her first career double-double

1/31/2009 6:27:00 PM | Women's Basketball

UNF upset East Tennessee State 80-73 Thursday at UNF Arena

By: Adam Jonson, UNF Athletics

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Led by sophomore Juliemay Syquio's first career double-double, all five starters scored in double figures for the University of North Florida women's basketball team Saturday at UNF Arena in the Lady Ospreys' 80-73 win against the Atlantic Sun Conference's top team East Tennessee State.

"Confidence is a mindset, and it took a while for us to figure things out but the girls are now playing with a lot of confidence," UNF head coach Mary Tappmeyer said. "The biggest factor in our success over the past few games is that we are playing aggressively."

The win marks the first time UNF (5-16, 4-8 A-Sun) has ever knocked off ETSU (12-9, 10-2 A-Sun) in six tries, avenges an early-January loss to the Lady Bucs in Johnson City, Tenn., and gives the Lady Ospreys their second winning streak of the season.

"To lose to a team over and over again is extremely tough, and that makes this win all that much more special," senior Jennifer Bowen said. "As a senior, getting the win against them in the final attempt is a great feeling."

Bowen scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and flushed two crucial shots from 3-point land late in the second half. Her first long-range jumper gave UNF a 57-54 lead with a little less than 10 minutes to play and her other lifted the Lady Ospreys to their biggest lead of the game – 12 points with four and a half minutes remaining.

The Lady Bucs bounced back in the final four minutes when Siarre Evans scored seven of her game-high 27. ETSU erased UNF's double-digit advantage to only three points with 1:48 left.

Syquio swished a pair from the charity stripe and then hit a layup with one minute left to increase the Lady Ospreys' edge to seven points. ETSU's TaRonda Wiles, who scored 15 points in the contest, pulled her team to within five after knocking down two free ones at the 55 second mark.

After the Lady Ospreys missed two free throws with 35 seconds remaining, Wiles' tried to slice the UNF lead to only three, but her jumper came off the rim and freshman Brittany Kirkland pulled down the most important of her five rebounds and was immediately fouled. She stepped to the stripe and sealed the UNF victory with her fourth and fifth made free throws of the game.

Kirkland netted a team-high 18 points and played a team-topping 38 minutes.

After posting career numbers in four offensive categories in UNF's Thursday win against USC Upstate, Syquio had another career night, tying her career best of 17 points and setting new career high in assists (10). She played 26 minutes and added six steals and two rebounds.

"Brittany and Juliemay are complementing each other very well," Tappmeyer said. "Early in the season, it was more of a competition, but now they realize they can benefit from each other."

UNF scored the first six points of the game and led 8-2 less than three minutes into the contest. Over the next 12 minutes, ETSU outscored the Ospreys 33-17 to build a 10-point lead with a little more than five minutes remaining until halftime.

"Playing well together is allowing us to have a lot of fun on the court," Bowen said. "We are having so much fun that even if something does go wrong we are able to have a short memory and stay positive."

The Lady Ospreys moved past it offensive lull and stepped up on both ends of the floor in the final minutes of the first half. UNF stifled the Lady Bucs' offense and held the visitors scoreless for the final five minutes and 19 seconds while exploding on its end of the court to close the half on a 14-0 run and sport a 39-35 lead at the break.

"Today was a total team effort," senior Jennifer Guldager said. "Everyone stepped up and did the little things. We all came together, believed in each other and picked up the win."

Guldager and junior Arlande Cherizol each notched 11 points – a season high for Guldager and career high for Cherizol. Guldager added eight rebounds and Cherizol had seven.

Junior Shennette Sheffield and freshman Kim Baker each came off the bench and played 19 and 18 minutes, respectively. Baker pulled down four rebounds, scored two points, blocked two shots and added an assist before fouling out with 14 seconds left.

"For us to be successful when we press and run, we need to go deep into our bench," Tappmeyer said. "We've gotten some quality minutes off the bench lately and will continue to look for additional production from our reserves.

"We are still the underdog for the rest of the year," Tappmeyer said. "The big challenge for the girls now is to understand how much work it has taken to get to where we are now and how much more work it is going to take to continue to be successful."

With three wins in four games, the Lady Ospreys will be back on the road for their next action, which takes place at Mercer on Thursday, Feb. 5, at 2 p.m.