USF Holds Off North Florida

Saturday, November 21

Tampa, Fla.

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

South Florida

11/21/2009 9:21:28 PM | Women's Basketball

BOX SCORE

TAMPA, Fla. – The University of North Florida women's basketball team went on a second half run, taking the lead midway through the half, but Big East foe South Florida was able to respond, taking the 62-48 win over the Ospreys on Saturday night at the Sun Dome in Tampa, Fla.

Leading the Ospreys (0-3) was sophomore guard Brittany Kirkland with 16 points. Junior guard Juliemay Syquio added 14 points, pulled down seven rebounds and dished out six assists. Senior forward Arlande Cherizol had a team high 10 rebounds.

For the Bulls (2-2) four players scored in double digits with Jessica Lawson leading with 14 points and 12 rebounds. KaNeisha Saunders and Janae Stokes had 13 points each and Jasmine Wynne tallied 10 points.

UNF and USF kept the game close in the early minutes with the Bulls holding just a three point, 10-7 lead with 13:32 on the clock. South Florida opened up the scoring with a 13-0 run to take a 23-7 advantage with 7:36 left in the half. Sophomore guard Kim Baker broke the UNF drought with a jumper at the 6:59 mark, sparking an Osprey run that closed the gap to nine (23-14) with 2:31 left in the half. The Bulls would score once more to take an 11-point lead, 25-14, into the break.

North Florida came out of the intermission with a 10-2 run to close the gap to three, 27-23 with 15:52 on the clock. The Bulls extended the lead back to six (30-24), but the Ospreys responded with a 7-0 run to take the 31-30 lead and their first since the opening minutes. The two teams were tied at 33 (9:07) before USF went on a 10-0 run that ended with 6:19 left. UNF closed the gap back to seven points three times over the next several minutes with the last cutting the lead down to 47-40 off a pair of free throws by senior center Shennette Sheffield with just under three minutes to play. That is as close as the Ospreys would come as USF made free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

The Ospreys will return to the court on Tuesday, Nov. 24 when they host Bethune-Cookman in their home opener. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at UNF Arena.

“I thought we hung really tough for about 35 minutes, and then at the end of the game we just haven't been in that situation before,” said head coach Mary Tappmeyer. “I was really pleased with our team's effort tonight. I think we were a little timid in the first half to take shots, but we were able to come together and find our shot in the second half. Crunch time down the stretch is an area that we need to work on because each possession becomes critical and we have to be ready for those situations.”