University of North Florida
East Tennessee State
No. 1 ETSU Edges No. 7 UNF, 63-62
3/6/2010 4:17:19 PM | Women's Basketball
BOX SCORE
MACON, Ga. – The No. 7 seeded University of North Florida women's basketball team was up one with seven seconds left in the finals of the 2010 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Conference Championship, but No. 1 East Tennessee State connected on a baseline jumper with two seconds remaining to secure the 63-62 win and the conference title on Saturday, March 6, at the University Center in Macon, Ga.
The Ospreys conclude the season with a 12-20 overall record, while ETSU improves to 23-8 and advances to the 2010 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
Sophomore guard Brittany Kirkland tallied 15 points and dished out seven assists to lead the Ospreys. Junior guard Juliemay Syquio added 13 points, while senior forward Arlande Cherizol had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman forward Jadhken Kerr added 10 points. Kirkland and Syquio both earned spots on the 2010 All-Tournament team.
“I am really proud of my team and their effort,” said head coach Mary Tappmeyer. “No one had expected us to win. I told them at halftime they needed to go out and play that last 20 minutes with no regrets and I think they did that. This is just to motivate us into the offseason and push us into getting back here again next season and hopefully have an opportunity to cut down the nets. I am really proud of our seniors, Arlande and Shennette really played a great tournament and stepped up as leaders on the court.”
UNF and ETSU traded baskets in the opening minutes of the game with neither team leading by more than three with the Bucs up 12-9 at the 12:40 mark. ETSU went on an 18-5 run over the next 11 minutes to take the largest lead of the half, up 16 (30-14), with a 1:30 left. UNF responded with a run of its own, outscoring the Bucs 8-1 to close out the half and cut the deficit to nine (31-22) going into the break.
The Ospreys continued their run into the second half, outscoring the Bucs 16-5 in the first six minutes to take a 38-36 lead at the 13:42 mark. UNF and ETSU traded baskets over the next several minutes and were tied for the sixth time (58-58) with two 2:30 left in the game.
The Bucs went up by three going into the final two minutes, but a pair of free throws from Cherizol and a pair from Syquio put the Ospreys on top by one (62-61) with 18 seconds left. The Bucs brought the ball down the court and shot a layup that rebounded out-of-bounds in favor of ETSU. TaRonda Wiles got the ball on the baseline for the game-winning jumper.
In a tale of two halves, the Ospreys shot just 21.9 percent (7-32) in the opening period, but bounced back to shoot 56 percent (14-25) in the second half. UNF allowed ETSU to shoot 44.4 percent in the first half, but held the Bucs to 30.8 percent (12-39) in the second.
On the game UNF shot 36.8 percent (21-57) from the field, including 29.4 percent (5-17) from behind the arc. ETSU shot 36.4 percent (24-66) from the field and 25 percent (7-28) from outside. The Ospreys hit 83.3 percent (15-18) from the free throw line while ETSU hit 80 percent (8-10).
UNF pulled down 42 rebounds to ETSU's 40. Both teams notched 10 steals and 12 assists. UNF had five blocks, led by senior center Shennette Sheffield with three.
ETSU was led by tournament MVP Siarre Evans with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Wiles added 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Tarita Gordon had 14 points.
