University of North Florida
Lipscomb
UNF Downs Lipscomb, 57-53, to Pick Up First A-Sun Win
1/10/2011 6:36:12 PM | Women's Basketball
BOXSCORE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tied at 53 with nine seconds left, sophomore Larkira Jones and freshman Jade Givens scored four unanswered points for the University of North Florida women's basketball team as it secured a 57-53 win over Atlantic Sun Conference foe Lipscomb on Monday afternoon at Allen Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
Jones drained a lay-up on an inbounds play with eight seconds left, after the Ospreys called a 30 second timeout, giving the ball back to Lipscomb (7-8, 4-2 A-Sun) with enough time to travel the length of the court, but Givens stole the ball on the inbounds play and was immediately fouled, stepping to the line with four seconds remaining she drained a pair of charity shots to put the Ospreys (3-11, 1-4 A-Sun) up by two possessions. The Bison got the ball out of bounds again, but Givens came up with a second steal to help secure the UNF win.
“We finally played the type of defense we were playing last year,” said head coach Mary Tappmeyer. “I thought it was a great effort by our young players. To get 26 points off the bench for us is big. I think Jade, our point guard, really grew up today. To put a freshman in that situation on the road in conference and have her come up was big for us. Larkira was also a beast for us, she really handled the paint, rebounding, blocking and hitting some baskets inside”
Leading UNF was junior Brittany Kirkland with a game-high 14 points. Taylor Smith added 13 points. Jones grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds while scoring six points. She also patrolled the paint, tallying 5 blocks against the Bison.
The Bison were led by Jenna Bartsokas and Miaca Bowman with 11 points each. Hannah Phillips and Brittany Duerk each had six rebounds.
Both teams got off to a slow start in the opening half and were tied at two each at 15:32 before UNF went on an 11-6 run to take a five point, 13-8 lead at the 11:12 mark. The Bison responded and took their first lead of the game, up two (15-13) with seven and half minutes left in the half. The two teams were tied at 15, but the Ospreys closed out the half, outscoring the Bison 9-5 to take a 24-20 lead into the break.
UNF opened the second half with a jumper from Kirkland to take a six point, 26-20 lead, but the Bison kept it close, tying the game up at 32 all with 14:07 on the clock. The two teams traded baskets over the next 10 minutes with three ties and seven lead changes during the span. UNF went on a small run, fueled by five straight points from Kirkland, to take a four point, 50-46 lead with just over three minutes to go. The Ospreys held on to the lead until a three pointer from Miaca Bowman tied the game at 53 with 23 seconds left on the clock. UNF ran time off the clock, leaving nine seconds on the clock before calling the 30 second timeout.
The Ospreys shot 50 percent (23-of-46) from the field including 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from behind the arc. UNF also drained 87.5 percent (7-of-8) from the free throw line. UNF held the Bison to just 27.3 percent (18-of-66) from the field and 25.0 percent (6-of-24) from outside. Lipscomb drained all of its free throws, going 11-of-11.
UNF held the advantage on the boards, pulling down 42 to 29. Defensively, the Ospreys tallied nine blocks as a team.
North Florida will be back on the court on Saturday, Jan. 15, hosting USC Upstate at 4:30 p.m. in UNF Arena.
