University of North Florida
Florida Gulf Coast
UNF Falls to FGCU, Claims No. 4 Seed in A-Sun Championship
2/26/2011 7:39:38 PM | Women's Basketball
BOXSCORE
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The University of North Florida women's basketball team fell, 70-54 on the road at Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday in Atlantic Sun Conference action at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Fla. With the loss, the Ospreys claim the No. 4 seed in the upcoming General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Women's Basketball Championship, March 2-5, hosted by Mercer University in Macon, Ga.
UNF (13-15, 11-9 A-Sun) will face No.5 seeded Jacksonville on Thursday, March 3 at noon. The crosstown rivals will meet for the third time this season. The Ospreys claimed both regular season games, with a 58-44 win at home and a 55-49 decision on the road.
Leading the Ospreys against the Eagles was sophomore Taylor Smith with her first double-double of the season, tallying 16 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow sophomore Larkira Jones added 11 points and nine rebounds while blocking two shots. Junior Brittany Kirkland notched 10 points.
The Eagles (24-2, 17-2 A-Sun) have already clinched the A-Sun regular season title, but are ineligible for postseason play due to NCAA reclassification. Leading FGCU was Shannon Murphy with 17 points. Sarah Hansen added 13 points while grabbing a team-best six rebounds. Eglah Griffin added 12 points while Kelsey Jacobson and Nicoya Jackson had 11 points each.
FGCU got out to an early, 9-4 lead after four minutes of play, but the Ospreys answered and tied it up at 13 with just over 10 minutes left in the half. Both teams went scoreless over the next couple minutes until a three pointer from Murphy sparked a 16-4 FGCU run that gave the Eagles a 15 point, 32-17, advantage with 1:40 on the clock. UNF scored the final points of the half to cut the lead down to 11 (32-21) going into the break.
The Ospreys continued its run into the second half to cut the lead down to six, 35-29 in the opening three and a half minutes, but the Eagles answered with back-to-back three pointers to extend their lead back to 12, 41-29. UNF closed the gap to 10, but would get no closer as FGCU took its largest lead of the game, up 67-46 with 1:59 remaining.
UNF dominated on the boards, grabbing 44 rebounds to FGCU's 24, but the Eagles forced 20 UNF turnovers while just giving the ball up seven times. Both teams shot over 40 percent from the field with the Eagles shooting 43.3 percent (26-of-60) while UNF hit 41.5 percent (22-of-53). FGCU knocked down 12 shots from behind the arc on 36.4 percent (12-of-33) UNF connected on four shots from outside (44.4 percent, 4-of-9).
