University of North Florida
ETSU
UNF Battles Past ETSU, 65-62
1/17/2011 10:01:34 PM | Women's Basketball
BOX SCORE
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Up one with seven seconds left to play, freshman Jade Givens connected on a pair of free throws to help secure the 65-62 win for the University of North Florida women's basketball team as it defeated Atlantic Sun Conference foe East Tennessee State on Monday night at UNF Arena.
Junior Brittany Kirkland led all scorers with 25 points for the Ospreys (5-11, 3-4 A-Sun). Sophomore Larkira Jones tallied 11 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks and three steals in the win. Sophomore Jadhken Kerr added nine points for UNF while senior Juliemay Syquio dished out seven assists.
“I am really proud of how we battled,” said head coach Mary Tappmeyer. “As much as we didn't focus on last year's [A-Sun title] game, this was an emotional game for our returners. The returners really had more of an incentive. We didn't defend very well in the first half, but came back and really played well in the second half. I thought Larkira [Jones] came up huge for us tonight with a double-double and five blocks plus Jade Givens stepping up for the second game and hitting big free throws at the end. The three point Campbell game really helped us learn about the late game situation and we have been able to step up in some close games lately.”
The Lady Bucs (8-9, 5-3 A-Sun) were led by Tara Davis with 21 points. Destiny Mitchell added 16 points and Latisha Belcher grabbed 11 rebounds.
Ospreys got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 12 point, 13-1 lead at the 16:26 mark of the first half. ETSU cut the lead down to five (15-10) with 13:36 on the clock. UNF extended its lead back to seven at 21-14, but the Lady Bucs answered with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 23 with 6:38 left in the half. ETSU took its first lead of the game, up 25-24 with just under six minutes left. The Lady Bucs took their largest lead of the half at 29-25. UNF cut the gap down to one twice before the intermission, but the Lady Bucs took a 34-31 lead into the break.
Coming out of the break the Ospreys quickly tied it up at the 17:38 mark off a three pointer by Givens. UNF outscored ETSU, 8-2 in the opening four minutes of the half, taking a 39-36 lead with 15:56 on the clock. ETSU tied it back up and the two teams battled back and forth through the half with seven ties and 15 lead changes.
Going into the final two and a half minutes of the game, UNF held a one point, 59-58 lead, but ETSU reclaimed a one point lead, up 61-60 with 1:39 to go. Kirkland went to the line on the next possession to give the Ospreys the one point, 61-60 advantage and UNF never looked back as a lay-up from Syquio put UNF on top by three with under a minute remaining. ETSU would get no closer than one in the final seconds, but Givens' free throws helped secure the win.
UNF shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the field, including 40.0 percent (6-of-15) from behind the arc. ETSU knocked down 32.2 percent (19-of-59) and 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from outside. The Ospreys hit 60.0 (15-of-25) from the line while the Lady Bucs hit 71.4 percent (20-of-28).
The Ospreys held the 43 to 39 advantaged on the boards and scored 13 second chance points and had 15 points in transition.
UNF will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 22 at Mercer. Game time is set for 2 p.m. at the University Center in Macon, Ga.
