Season ends with dramatic defeat

Saturday, February 28

Nashville, Tenn.

1 p.m.

University of North Florida

Lipscomb University

Senior Jennifer Bowen collected a career-best 12 rebounds

2/28/2009 3:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball

UNF fell 56-54 to Lipscomb on Saturday

By: Adam Jonson, UNF Athletics

Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Senior Jennifer Bowen watched her buzzer-beating jumper strike rim and go astray this time around against Lipscomb, and the University of North Florida women's basketball team saw its season come to a close with a hard-fought 56-54 loss Saturday at Allen Arena .

"The whole team wanted to win this one for our seniors," UNF head coach Mary Tappmeyer said. "We wanted to send them off in style, but we simply didn't play very well."

Bowen swished a last-second shot to defeat the Lady Bisons by one at UNF Arena on Dec. 4. She and fellow senior Jennifer Guldager were with the Lady Osprey program through all four years of the transition into NCAA Division I, which is now officially over, making UNF a full-fledged member of the NCAA's top rank.

UNF's final game as a provisional NCAA Division I member got off to a slow start on both ends of the floor Saturday with both teams struggling to find the bottom of the net. The Lady Ospreys (8-21, 7-13 A-Sun) put an end to their lull and sparked a 13-0 run beginning at the 10:36 mark to go on top 21-9 with a little less than eight minutes until halftime. Freshman Kim Baker capped the rally with a 3-pointer before Lipscomb knocked down a free throw to stop its scoring drought.

"We got some early scoring opportunities in transition early and ran on them a little," Tappmeyer said. "Then I think we got a little selfish for the first time this season and took some shots we wouldn't normally take."

The Lady Bisons (6-23, 4-16) took control of the final three minutes of the opening frame, scoring six of their 10 first-half second-chance points and outscoring the Lady Ospreys by six to cut UNF's lead to only four. Jillian Partin scored six of her 13 first-half points for Lipscomb during the run. The Lady Ospreys held a 32-28 lead at the break after racking up a 46.7 shooting percentage through the first 20 minutes.

"The most disappointing thing is that feel like we didn't defend well at all," Tappmeyer said. "They drove to the basket repeatedly, and we simply didn't do what we needed to do defensively."

Lipscomb pulled to within one at 32-33 in the opening minutes of the second half, but Bowen grabbed two offensive rebounds that created five second-chance points for UNF to build a seven-point UNF advantage with 15 minutes left to play. Two of those points came on a Bowen putback. Bowen pulled down a team-best and career-high 12 rebounds.

The game was knotted at 41-41 with less than 11 minutes to play when the Lady Bisons strung together seven straight points. The home team grabbed its first lead of the game since the opening minute on a Cree Nix layup with 8:58 left to play. Nix pushed the lead to 46-43 with a free throw less than a minute later.

Freshman Kayla Mobley gave UNF a one-point lead with a little more four minutes to play by sinking two free throws in a one-and-one situation. Lipscomb responded by rattling off the game's next five point and held a four-point lead with less than three minutes on the clock

A Bowen jumper from just inside the free throw line pulled UNF to within two at 53-51 with 2:08 left in the game and the Lady Ospreys' season. Bowen then made an outlet pass to freshman Brittany Kirkland off a Lipscomb turnover to create a fast-break layup for Kirkland that evened things with 63 ticks on the clock.

A single free throw by Jilian Partan, who scored a game-high 18 points, and UNF junior Arlande Cherizol pushed the tie score to 54-54. A called blocking foul on the Lady Ospreys sent Anna Bowers to the line for a pair of free ones with 10 seconds left. Bowers, who had checked into the game 12 second earlier, flushed both to lift Lipscomb to a 56-54 edge.

Sophomore Juliemay Syquio quickly pushed the ball up the floor, drove baseline and made a pass to Bowen in the corner in front of the UNF bench. Bowen dribbled right, pulled up at 15 feet and launched the potential game-tying shot. Her shot did not find the same fate as it did on Dec. 4 at UNF Arena and took one bounce off the iron before falling to the floor in Allen Arena.

"We also allowed too many second chance points," Tappmeyer said. "And we gave up 10 fast break points."

The Lady Bisons notched 15 second-chance points, and UNF scored 12 second-chance points. The Lady Ospreys netted 15 points off 19 turnovers while Lipscomb went for 17 points off 18 UNF miscues.

Bowen added six points and two steals to her career rebounding performance. Guldager grabbed two rebounds and had one assist and one steal while limiting her defensive assignment to six points.

Freshman Brittany Kirkland paced the UNF squad with 14 points and three assists. Syquio also dished three assists, scored seven points and had five rebounds in addition to Cherizol's seven points and junior Shennette Sheffield's four.