University of North Florida
Kennesaw State (CSS-TV)
Ospreys Soar Past Owls, 66-57
2/20/2011 2:46:52 PM | Women's Basketball
BOXSCORE
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sophomores Jadhken Kerr and Taylor Smith combined for 30 points to lead the University of North Florida women's basketball team past Atlantic Sun Conference foe Kennesaw State, 66-57, on Sunday afternoon in the Ospreys home finale for the 2010-11 season.
Kerr tallied 16 points on 4-of-8 from three point range and 4-of-4 from the line for the Ospreys (13-14, 11-7 A-Sun). Smith added 14 points and grabbed six rebounds and five steals in the game. Junior Brittany Kirkland added 10 points for the Ospreys. Senior Juliemay Syquio dished out six assists in her final home game while sophomore Larkira Jones pulled down 14 rebounds.
The Lady Owls (8-18, 5-13 A-Sun) were led by Chelcey Farrar with 16 points. Ashley Holiday added 11 points. Lisa Capellan handed out five assists and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.
“We locked down and defended in the second half which allowed us some opportunities to get out in transition which always fuels our offense,” said head coach Mary Tappmeyer. “I liked that we scored 28 points off of their forced turnovers and 15 second chance points. It is huge to get 43 points off our effort when you're struggling a bit offensively. Really happy that we were able to go undefeated at home in 2011 and it was nice to send our seniors out with a win.”
Both teams got off to a slow start in the game with the Ospreys breaking the double-digit mark with 11:09 on the clock to take a 10-6 lead. UNF maintained the lead over the next few minutes, but the Lady Owls came back to tie it at 13 with just over seven minutes left in the half. KSU took its largest lead of the half (19-15) with just under five minutes to go. UNF came back to take a 22-20 lead into the break.
Coming out of the break, the two team traded baskets and were tied at 38 with 11:01 on the clock before UNF went on an 11-2 run to take a 51-40 lead with 5:46 to go. The Lady Owls looked to make a run late and got the lead down to six several times over the final minutes as UNF held a 59-53 advantage with 1:11 remaining. The Ospreys connected on 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the final minute to secure the win.
Both teams struggled with turnovers as KSU tallied 27 and UNF notched 22, but the Ospreys scored 28 points off turnovers to KSU's 11. The Ospreys led on the boards, pulling down 45 to 35 by the Owls. UNF also scored 15 second chance points to KSU's seven.
The Ospreys will wrap up the regular season on the road beginning with Stetson on Thursday, Feb. 24. UNF will play its final regular season game on Saturday, Feb. 26 at Florida Gulf Coast.
