Comeback comes up incomplete

Monday, February 16

Jacksonville, Fla.

5 p.m.

University of North Florida

Jacksonville University

Junior Arlande Cherizol posted her first career double-double

2/16/2009 7:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball

UNF outsccored JU 25-0 in a 9:34 second-half stretch

By: Adam Jonson, UNF Athletics

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 22-point first-half deficit seemed too much for the University of North Florida women's basketball team to overcome in Monday night's Atlantic Sun Conference contest at Jacksonville, but the Lady Ospreys erased the Dolphins' lead in the second half only to slip in the final minutes and drop the SunTrust River City rumble matchup, 64-56.

Trailing 47-22 a little more than five minutes into the second half, UNF (6-19, 5-11 A-Sun) sparked a spectacular stretch, holding Jacksonville (15-10, 11-5) scoreless for almost 10 minutes and eventually knotting the score at 47-47.

During the stint that lasted nine minutes and 34 seconds, the Lady Ospreys forced seven of JU's 15 turnovers, limited the Dolphins to only nine field goal attempts and two free throw tries and outscored the home team 25-0. UNF first cut into the game-high 25 point lead when freshman Brittany Kirkland sliced through the paint for a layup at the 13:12 mark.

UNF scored in 13 of its 16 possessions during the run, using seven of sophomore Juliemay Syquio's team-high and career-high 19 points and eight of Kirkland's 13 points to even things at 47-47 with 4:46 left to play.

The Dolphins finally broke their scoreless streak when DaVina Hamilton swished a jumper in the paint and added the "and one" to boost her squad to a 50-47 advantage. UNF freshman Kim Baker answered with a fastbreak jumper in the paint to cut the lead to one before Desarae Johnson knocked down a pair of free throws and Hamilton hit a fastbreak jumper of her own to build the lead back to five.

A Kirkland free throw and a layup by junior Arlande Cherizol narrowed the gap to 54-52 with two minutes and two seconds remaining. JU scored the next five points of the game to go up by seven with less than a minute to play. After Kirkland notched another layup, the teams traded free throws until Regina Omoite put down the final one to put the score at its final.

The Lady Ospreys fell into their third halftime hole of 20 points or more after going 7-for-28 from the floor and committing 13 turnovers in the opening frame. The Dolphins scorched the net from beyond the 3-point arc five times in the first half and knocked down 38.2 percent of their total shots.

Cherizol recorded her first double-double of the season by scoring 10 points and pulling down a game-high and career-best 14 rebounds, including 10 in the first half. She grabbed six misses off the offensive glass and blocked a career-high four shots.

JU had three players score in double figures, led by Hamilton's 15-point performance. Omoite added 14 points, four assists and three steals while Virginia Gregoire scored 13 points.

Syquio finished with seven assists, two steals and a block and Kirkland dished five assists.

The Lady Ospreys tabbed a .393 shooting percentage in the contest compared to a .357 mark by the Dolphins. UNF led the rebounding struggle 42-36 and scored 13 second-chance points and 28 points in the paint.

UNF wraps up its home slate this weekend with battles against Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday and Stetson on Saturday.