North Florida Edged by Wake Forest, 60-57

Monday, December 14

Winston-Salem, N.C.

11:30 a.m.

University of North Florida

Wake Forest

12/14/2009 1:59:37 PM | Women's Basketball

BOX SCORE

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The University of North Florida women's basketball team dominated in the paint against Wake Forest, pulling down 45 rebounds and tallying 30 points inside, but the Demon Deacons knocked down 11 three pointers to edge the Ospreys, 60-57, on Monday morning at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

WFU had 31 boards and 14 points in the paint. This is the first time that Wake, who improved to 7-2 on the year, has been outrebounded all season.

Sophomore guard Brittany Kirkland was just one point shy of tying her career high, knocking down a game-high 23 points to lead the Ospreys (1-7). Kirkland tied her career high in assists with seven. Junior guard Juliemay Syquio added 11 points and pulled down a team-high eight boards. Freshman guard Jadhken Kerr added seven rebounds.

For the Demon Deacons, Brittany Waters had 14 points. Brooke Thomas added 11 points while, Secily Ray tallied 10 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Sandra Garcia added 10 rebounds for the Deacs.

“It was a tremendous effort today by our team,” said head coach Mary Tappmeyer. “I thought Arlande did a great job on Brittany Waters, holding her to two rebounds. We missed some opportunities from the free throw line, but I have no regrets about the way that we played today. We challenged our kids this past week and they really responded. We want to be in every game, with an opportunity to win. I think today's game is as well as we have battled anyone this season and bodes very well for the season.”

The Demon Deacons took an early nine point (14-5) lead at the 15:51 mark, but the Ospreys pulled back and closed the gap to two, 20-18, with just over eight minutes left in the opening half. Wake Forest again extended its lead, going up by eight (32-24) with four and a half minutes remaining, but UNF battled back and closed the gap to two off a three pointer from Kirkland with 17 seconds to go. A free throw by Asia Williams sent Wake into the break with a 35-32 advantage.

Coming out of the intermission, the Ospreys pulled to within one, 36-35, with 15:58 on the clock. Wake tied its largest lead of the game, up nine (51-42), midway through the half. The Ospreys scored the next five points to cut the lead down to four, 51-47, with 7:38 left. Both teams went cold over the next several minutes until Kirkland broke the drought with back-to-back jumpers to pull the Ospreys to within one, 52-51, with three and a half minutes remaining.

Wake led by five going into the last 30 seconds of the game, but Kirkland again connected on a pair of jumpers to put the Ospreys within one (58-57) with five seconds left. Thomas hit a pair of free throws to give Wake its final points. The Ospreys had a chance to tie it at the end, but the long range shot fell just short of the rim.

Wake Forest forced 26 turnovers, while only giving the ball up 13 times. UNF shot 44.2 percent from the field to Wake's 32.2 percent. The Demon Deacons shot 42.3 percent from outside the arc.

The Ospreys return to UNF Arena for their next two games when they host the Osprey Holiday Classic, Dec. 17-18. North Florida will play South Carolina State at 5 p.m. on Dec. 17, followed by Savannah State on the 18th, also at 5 p.m.