Women's Basketball Tops ETSU with Thrilling Comeback

Thursday, January 12

Jacksonville, Fla.

7 pm

University of North Florida

-611 (33 ASun)

East Tennessee State

-412 (33 ASun)

ETSU

North Florida

1/12/2012 9:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Box score (PDF)
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Fabiola Josil sank a pair of clutch free throws with two seconds remaining and the University of North Florida women's basketball team erased a late 13-point deficit to defeat East Tennessee State 70-67 Thursday night at UNF Arena.

Four players reached double-digits for the Ospreys (6-11, 3-3 Atlantic Sun). Brittany Kirkland tallied a game-best 15 points, while Jadhken Kerr and Octavia Langston added 12 and 10, respectively. Meanwhile, Josil notched a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Gwen Washington paced the Lady Bucs with 13 points. Cara Bowling and Destiny Mitchell tallied 12 and 10 points respectively. Tarita Gordon grabbed a game-best 11 boards.

UNF outshot and outrebounded ETSU on the night. The Ospreys shot 44.8 percent from the field (26-for-58) compared to ETSU's 36.8 percent (25-for-68). UNF also held a 45-40 advantage in boards.

The teams battled back and forth during the first part of the opening half. Seven ties took place within the first 9:08. However, after Raneisha Lamar made a foul shot to even the game at 15-15 at 10:52, ETSU went on a 12-2 run en route to take a 10-point, 27-17 advantage, which was the largest lead of the half. UNF fought back with a 7-0 run, coming to within three on a Lamar layup at 2:32. Back-to-back ETSU buckets put the Lady Bucs ahead by seven, but Destinee Smith hit a long jumper with 45 seconds to go as ETSU took a 31-26 lead into halftime.

The Ospreys got out to a hot start to the second half, using a 10-1 run to go up 36-32 at 17:05. ETSU fought back and, with the game tied at 38-all, used a Mitchell jumper to start a 17-4 run the allowed the Lady Bucs to take a 13-point lead at 9:17. ETSU reached 13 points three more times, including at 7:16 when Gordon's jumper made it a 61-48 game.

UNF clawed back. Down by 12, Kerr drilled a three-pointer at 5:18 that sparked a 12-0 Osprey run to deadlock the game at 64-64 with 2:43 to go. During that run, Langston was a key factor for the Ospreys offense. Langston assisted on Kerr's trey and then made the run's last two baskets.

ETSU answered with a three-point play from Washington, who made a jumper and drew the foul in the process. Washington made her foul shot to put the Lady Bucs up 67-64 with 2:22 remaining.

Langston made it a one-point game with a jumper at 2:13. After both teams missed opportunities, Kerr hit a critical jumper with 29 seconds left to give UNF a 68-67 advantage. Tough defensive play on UNF's part allowed Larkira Jones to make steal at four seconds. An ETSU foul put Josil at the line to make the game's final two points.

UNF is back in action on Saturday when the Ospreys host USC Upstate at 4:30 p.m., at UNF Arena. The game is the first one of a doubleheader with the men's team.