UNF readies for final hoops rumble

Monday, February 16

Jacksonville, Fla.

5 p.m.

University of North Florida

Jacksonville University

Freshman Brittany Kirkland scored 14 points in the first meeting with JU

2/15/2009 4:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Lady Ospreys face Jacksonville Monday at 5 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Arena

By: Adam Jonson, UNF Athletics

Game Notes

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A crucial SunTrust River City Rumble point will be at stake Monday night when the University of North Florida women's basketball team visits Veterans Memorial Arena to face Jacksonville in an attempt to win its second straight and avenge an earlier loss to the Dolphins.

UNF (6-18, 5-10 Atlantic Sun Conference) came out on the bottom side of a 61-38 decision against Jacksonville (14-10, 10-5) at UNF Arena on Jan. 15, but has picked up four of its six wins on the season since that meeting.

The Lady Ospreys have won four of their last seven after slipping in 15 of their first 17. Three of the wins during the stretch have been by 10 points, and UNF has outscored its opponents by an average of 9.3 points in its last four wins. Freshman Brittany Kirkland averaged 18 points in those four games and is averaging 16.1 points since the previous meeting with JU.

The Dolphins enter Monday's matchup on a three-game upswing with wins at Kennesaw State and Mercer and a 73-51 win at home against Campbell in their last outing on Thursday. Jacksonville boasts the league's second-best scoring defense, allowing 58.9 points per game while UNF's scoring defense is fifth-best in the league at 61.6 points per game.

JU also tops the conference with a +4.17 turnover margin and ranks second in steals (10.54 per game), assists (14.08 per game), blocked shots (4.67 per game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.77).

If season play ended today and no A-Sun teams, including UNF, were ineligible for postseason play due to NCAA reclassification regulations, the Lady Ospreys would find themselves in the A-Sun Tournament with the eighth seed. The Dolphins would qualify with the fourth overall seed.

When: Monday, Feb. 16 – 5 p.m.

Where: Jacksonville, Fla. – Veterans Memorial Arena

ASUN.TV: Click here (coverage begins at 4:45 p.m.)

UNF's Record: 6-18, 5-10 A-Sun

Jacksonville's Record: 14-10, 10-5 A-Sun

Series: Jacksonville leads, 6-1

Last Meeting: Jan. 15, 2009, at UNF Arena (Jacksonville won, 61-42)

Who's Hot: After tying her career high with 10 points at Kennesaw State, Jones bettered her performance by going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and scoring a new career-high 11 points against Campbell. In 24 minutes of action, she also collected four rebounds while tying her career high in field goals attempted.

Quoting Coach Tappmeyer: "This will be a very big challenge for us. They are playing very well and have had three days to prepare for us after their Thursday game while we will play on one day's rest. I expect them to press more than in the first meeting so it will be important for our young ball handlers to take care of the ball. We must recover quickly from Saturday's win and get back to work in preparation."

Gameday Notables: UNF is in its final season of the four-year transition into Division I … the Lady Ospreys are 0-5 when playing on Feb. 16 … this season, the Lady Ospreys are 5-1 when eclipsing the 60-point mark … JU leads in the standings of the 2008-09 SunTrust River City Rumble by a score of 7-2 … the Lady Ospreys are coming off their best finish since entering the transitional period, finishing with a 13-16 overall record and 8-8 A-Sun record in 2007-08 … seniors Jennifer Bowen and Jennifer Guldager will steer the program once again, having been with the team through every season of the reclassification process.