Women's Basketball Rebounds with 72-61 Win Over Delaware State

Saturday, December 17

Jacksonville, Fla.

3:30 pm

University of North Florida

3-7

Delaware State

3-8

Delaware State

North Florida

Photo by: JC Ridley

Women's Basketball Rebounds with 72-61 Win Over Delaware State

12/17/2011 5:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore (PDF)
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Hot shooting and three players with double digit scoring figures propelled the University of North Florida women's basketball team to a 72-61 victory over Delaware State on Saturday afternoon at UNF Arena on the first day of the Comfort Inn Holiday Classic.

Larkira Jones notched a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double. Brittany Kirkland and Taylor Smith contributed with 19 and 13 points, respectively. Jones' rebounds were a game-high. Fabiola Josil dished out a game-best six assists and also swiped a game and career-high six steals.

UNF (3-7) shot over 50 percent in both halves en route to shooting a season-best 54.0 percent. The Ospreys were 27-for-50 for the game.

Tasia Bristow led the Lady Hornets (3-8) and the game with 24 points, while Tierra Hawkins had 18. Hawkins also led Delaware State with eight rebounds.

After a slow start in the first half (36.0 percent shooting), Delaware State came back with a hot second 20 minutes, connecting on 51.9 percent of its shots. The Lady Hornets were 23-for-52 for the game and shot 44.2 percent.

A solid defense and a timely run allowed UNF to take a 12-point lead midway through the first half. A Kirkland three-pointer at 17:58 began a 15-4 run that resulted in UNF taking an 18-6 lead at the 10:32 mark. During that run, Delaware State only made one field goal and two foul shots. UNF continued to build on its lead, going up by as much as 13 on two occasions, including at 5:24 when Jones' layup made it 31-18. The Lady Hornets chipped away at UNF's advantage and outscored the Ospreys 10-4 in the final 3:45. However, UNF carried a 35-28 lead going into halftime.

Both teams came out shooting in the second half. UNF saw its lead dwindle down to one at the 15:21 mark when Bristow hit a jumper to make it 41-40. The Ospreys got back a little cushion about two minutes later with a Josil making a layup, drawing the foul and converting on a foul shot to make it a five-point game. However, Bristow brought Delaware State back to within one with another jumper, this time at 11:43 and UNF holding a slight 49-48 advantage.

A critical 9-0 run helped the Ospreys to distance themselves from the Lady Hornets. A layup by Jasmine Hicks began the run, which was capped by Jones' layup at 8:53 that put UNF up 58-48. Although Delaware State cut UNF's lead down to four with seven minutes to play, the Ospreys outscored the Lady Hornets 14-7 in the final 6:47 to secure the win.

UNF held a 37-28 advantage in rebounds. The Ospreys also swiped 14 balls. It was the second-straight game in which UNF had over 10 steals.

The Comfort Inn Holiday Classic ends on Sunday at UNF Arena. FIU and Delaware State meet at 1 p.m. UNF and Jacksonville State face each other at 3:30 p.m.