UNF turns in good defensive outing

Monday, January 5

Johnson City, Tenn.

4:45 p.m.

University of North Florida

East Tennessee State University

Brittany Kirkland scored eight points at ETSU.

1/5/2009 7:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Jennifer Bowen scores 17 in loss to ETSU

By: Shawn LaFata

Box Score

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The University of North Florida women's basketball team put together a strong defensive effort Monday night at East Tennessee State but couldn't get enough offensive firepower in a 56-42 loss at the Memorial Center.

UNF (2-11, 1-3 A-Sun) turned the ball over 29 times in the game and went 0-for-5 beyond the 3-point arc in falling to 0-6 all-time against ETSU (5-6, 3-1 A-Sun) on the road.

The Lady Ospreys kept ETSU within reach until the last minute of play and showed improvement in a building where their average loss going into Monday was a 29-point spread.

Jennifer Bowen carried the bulk of the offensive load for the Lady Ospreys, finishing with a game-high 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. Freshman Brittany Kirkland followed her with eight points, hitting a couple of baseline jumpers down the stretch to keep the game within 10 points.

Bowen also chipped in a game-high eight rebounds to go along with a pair of assists.

The Lady Ospreys turned the ball over 20 times in the first half and fell behind by as many as 15 before making a late charge to end the half and pull within eight points.

UNF missed its first six shots from the field and fell behind 6-2 with the Lady Ospreys only points coming on a pair of Shennette Sheffield free throws.

Bowen followed her own miss with a rebound and a layup to make it a 6-4 game before ETSU took off, scoring the next 11 points to take a 17-4 advantage. Kirkland finally broke that run with a baseline jumper.

The Lady Ospreys went on a 6-0 run to pull themselves closer before ETSU made it a 24-11 game with 3:55 to play in the first half. UNF put together a 7-0 run to close the half that featured five points from Bowen, including a 3-point play in the last 10 seconds that made it a 28-20 game when the first half horn sounded. The Lady Ospreys controlled the boards as well, outrebounding the Lady Bucs 11-3 during the run to close out the half.

Bowen led the Lady Ospreys with seven points in the half and five rebounds. ETSU's Gwen Washington scored eight points and was followed by TaRonda Wiles, who scored seven. Nobody on the Lady Buc squad had more than two rebounds in the half. UNF led the overall rebounding battle 25-13.

UNF won the overall battle of the boards 41-39, but did allow the Lady Buccaneers 15 offensive rebounds.

UNF's early game shooting woes continued at the start of a second half that saw the Lady Ospreys miss their first five shots from the field and fall behind by 13 points. Bowen started to get her squad back into the game with a pair of jumpers that made it a 34-24 contest. She them helped UNF cut the lead to 34-27 after combining with Kirkland to complete a fast break with a layup.

The Lady Ospreys failed to cash in on two fast break opportunities the next two trips down the court and opened a door for the Lady Bucs to eventually up their advantage to 42-27 on a Siarre Evans jumper.

A Willonda Windham layup followed by a Kirkland jumper made it a 46-36 contest with just under five minutes to play. UNF was able to pull within seven points in the second half but could not get any closer.

UNF shot 28.9 percent for the game from the field and held ETSU to 30.2 percent shooting. The Lady Bucs hit only 2-of-17 3-pointers and scored 24 of their points in the paint.

The Lady Ospreys return home on Thursday where they square off with Kennesaw State at 7 p.m.