Lady Ospreys speed past Camels

Saturday, February 14

Jacksonville, Fla.

2 p.m.

University of North Florida

Campbell University

Sophomore Brittany Jones made her fifth start of the season

2/14/2009 5:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball

UNF never trailed in its 61-51 win against Campbell

By: Adam Jonson, UNF Athletics

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three scorers in double figures, including a career high for sophomore Brittany Jones, propelled the University of North Florida women's basketball team to its third-straight home win Saturday in a 61-51 Atlantic Sun Conference victory against Campbell at UNF Arena.

"For a freshman and sophomore to step in and go a combined 8-for-8 from the field for us was huge," UNF head coach Mary Tappmeyer said. "We got a huge lift from Brittany and (freshman) Kim Baker, especially with Jennifer Bowen being out."

Jones netted 11 points for UNF (6-18, 5-10 A-Sun) by knocking down all five of her attempts from the field and sinking a free throw. She also collected four rebounds in 24 minutes of play while freshman Kim Baker went 3-for-3 from the field and had one steal in 12 minutes of action.

Bowen's play was limited due to a hand injury, and it forced her to miss her first start of the season. She saw only three minutes of action.

Sophomore Juliemay Syquio paced a Lady Osprey squad that posted a .510 shooting percentage by playing 36 minutes and notching 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists and steals. Freshman Brittany Kirkland chipped in a 17-point, four-assist performance, running her double-digit scoring streak to six games.

"We really played a well-rounded offensive game tonight and were able to score several different ways," Tappmeyer said. "The biggest thing was that we outrebounded them."

The Lady Ospreys went for 22 points off turnovers, 20 points in the paint, 13 points off the bench and nine second-chance points. Senior Jennifer Guldager and junior Arlande Cherizol hit two buckets each down low and grabbed eight and seven rebounds, respectively, to help UNF win the rebounding battle 36-27. Freshman Kayla Mobley flushed her only try from the low block and had two rebounds.

"Defensively, Shennette Sheffield, Cherizol, Guldager and Mobley did a very good job in the post and kept anyone from taking a good shot," Tappmeyer said. "Most of the shots they got were out of our press on a rotation where a little was on them. I think we were able to keep them out of their comfort zone by not allowing them to run much half-court execution."

Campbell (10-14, 3-12) saw three of its own score in double figures, led by Geami Britt's 12 points. Amanda O'Neill finished with 11, and Lauren Yesh scored 10 to steer a Camel bench that had 20 points. The Camels scored 26 points in the paint and connected on 41.2 percent of its total shots, including a .417 mark from beyond the 3-point arc (5-for-12).

After UNF immediately took a nine-point lead by scoring the first nine points of the game, the home team built a 12-point lead less than seven minutes into the game when it led 17-5. Campbell made a run near the close of the first frame when the Lady Ospreys went cold and managed only one field goal over a period of more than seven minutes.

The Camels, down 21-11 at the 8:17 mark pulled to within four with a little more than two minutes remaining until the half (23-19) before Cherizol hit a 10-foot jumper with just over a minute on the clock to give the Lady Ospreys a 25-19 halftime edge.

UNF never trailed in the contest and led by at least seven for all but several minutes of the second half. Kirkland connected on a jumper from downtown and Syquio added a layup to push the Lady Osprey lead to 11 points only 44 seconds into the second frame, but Campbell refused to be down for long.

With a 7-0 run, Campbell pulled to within four points again at the 17:37 mark before Jones made a baseline move and swished a jumper while being fouled then added the free one to put UNF back up by seven. She answered Yesh's layup with one of her own and then hit put in another layup to give the Lady Ospreys a nine-point advantage.

The visitors never got closer than nine points in the final 10 minutes, and UNF built its biggest lead of the game at 58-43 when freshman Rachelle Rasley swished a 3-point ball with three minutes and 19 seconds remaining. Rasley racked up five points and a block in 14 minute of action.

The Lady Ospreys will try for their second road win of the season when they visit Jacksonville for another hardcourt installment of the SunTrust River City Rumble Monday at 5 p.m.