Women's Basketball Takes 66-57 Victory at Kennesaw State

Thursday, January 19

Kennesaw, Ga.

7 pm

University of North Florida

-712, 44 ASun

Kennesaw State

-811, 35 ASun

North Florida

Kennesaw State

1/19/2012 9:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore (PDF)
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KENNESAW, Ga. – The University of North Florida women's basketball team began its four-game road swing with a 66-57 victory at Kennesaw State on Thursday at the KSU Convocation Center.

Brittany Kirkland made most of her team-best 13 points from the free throw line, going 9-for-10. Jadhken Keer grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

Taylor Mills had 16 points for the Owls with 12 coming from three-point range. Sametria Gideon added 10 points and eight rebounds.

UNF outshot the Owls, but Kennesaw State held the advantage in rebounds. The Ospreys, who shot 61.1 percent in the second half alone (11-for-18), were 46.7 percent from the floor (21-for-45). Kennesaw State shot 31.1 percent (19-for-61). The Owls grabbed 38 rebounds, while the Ospreys had 34.

UNF and Kennesaw State battled throughout the beginning of the first half. The Owls broke a 10-10 tie at 12:05 with a Gideon free throw, but Octavia Langston's layup 10 seconds later put the Ospreys ahead 12-11. However, a Gideon layup was the start of a 9-2 Kennesaw State run that allowed the Owls to go up 20-14 at 10:00.

The Ospreys cut away at Kennesaw State's lead by making five free throws, coming to within one when Kirkland sank her shot at 8:05. Kennesaw State answered with a 7-1 run in order to take a 27-20 advantage at 2:31. UNF continued to fight back and outscored the Owls 10-1 in the final 2:10 to take a 30-28 lead into halftime after Kerr hit a three-point with 10 seconds left.

UNF carried over its momentum from the first half into the second half. The Ospreys started the half with an 8-0 run to go up 38-28, but Kennesaw State gradually chipped away at UNF's lead and used a 14-4 run to tie the game at 42-42 with 10:07 remaining.

A jumper from Destinee Smith sparked a 7-0 Osprey run that allowed UNF to begin to pull away from the Owls. UNF led by as much as 12, holding that large of a margin on three occasions, including at 2:57 when Kirkland made a pair of free throws to make it 60-48. Although the Owls cut UNF's lead in half, the Ospreys closed out the game with free throws from Destinee Smith and Kirkland in order to secure a nine-point victory.

UNF continues with its road stretch on Saturday when the Ospreys travel to Mercer. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 on WatchESPN.