Jacksonville Edges Out Women's Basketball, 57-55

Saturday, February 16

Jacksonville, Fla.

1 p.m.

University of North Florida

10-15, 6-8ASun

Jacksonville

8-17, 4-10,ASun

North Florida

Photo by: JC Ridley

2/16/2013 4:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore (PDF)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Junior Raneisha Lamar pulled down 18 rebounds and notched her seventh double-double of the season, but it was not enough as Jacksonville squeaked past University of North Florida women's basketball 57-55 Saturday afternoon at Swisher Gymnasium.

“Jacksonville came out very aggressive on us in the first half and got us on our heels,” said head coach Mary Tappmeyer. “We didn't take care of the ball. We came out better in the second half, but we still had dug ourselves a really big hole. To JU's credit, they were very aggressive.”

Lamar added 13 points to her career-high 18 boards. Her seven double-doubles are UNF season-best in the Ospreys' Division I era. Meanwhile, entering into Saturday's games, her 18 rebounds are an Atlantic Sun season-best and also tied for fifth among UNF's all-time single-game leaders.

“I was really proud of how Raniesha rebounded from last weekend at Mercer and Kennesaw State,” said Tappmeyer. “She's a work-horse inside. When we got her the ball today, she was very successful.”

Destinee Smith scored a team-high 18 points, while Ki Conner tallied 12.

Queen Alford led the Dolphins with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double and six steals. Britney Holliday added 13 points and Stephanie Edwards notched 10.

UNF out-shout and out-rebounded the Dolphins. The Ospreys were 40.4 percent (23-for-57) from the floor, including 50.0 percent (13-for-26) in the second half. Jacksonville shot 39.1 percent (18-for-46). UNF held a 38-29 advantage in the battle on the boards. However, the Dolphins capitalized on UNF's turnovers, getting 29 points off 20 UNF miscues, and shot 78.3 percent (18-for-23) from the foul line. Jacksonville was 14-for-15 from the charity stripe in the first half alone.

Jacksonville came out strong in the opening half and built up a 10-point, 22-12 lead at the 7:59 mark when Alford converted on two free throws. UNF quickly sliced the deficit in half and made it a five-point game on a Smith jumper at 7:05. Jacksonville eventually regained another double-digit lead, this time going up by 11 on a pair of Tracie Sneed free throws that made it 33-22 at 2:26. Conner sank a pair of foul shots at 1:40 and then a layup with 37 seconds left in the half to cut the Dolphins' lead down to seven and Jacksonville led 33-26 at the break.

UNF got out to a hot start to the second half and erased its deficit behind a 10-1 run. Smith provided UNF with the go-ahead bucket at 14:08 when her layup made it 36-34.

After a quick Dolphin timeout, Holliday hit a long trey at 13:45 that returned the lead to Jacksonville. UNF and Jacksonville battled over the next seven-and-a-half minutes for control. However, a Holliday trey started a seven-point run that led to a 53-46 Dolphin advantage at 5:26.

UNF continued to fight back and came to within two on a Jadhken Kerr layup at 20 seconds that made it 55-53. A quick Osprey foul sent Briona Brown to the line, who made both her free throws to give Jacksonville a four-point cushion. Fabiola Josil drove the length of the court for a layup and got fouled as the ball dropped through the bucket to pull UNF to within two at 13 seconds. Josil missed the free throw, but got the rebound. After quick UNF timeout, the Ospreys attempted a three ball that was blocked.

UNF was able to foul the Dolphins, who missed both free throws with 4.5 left. The Ospreys got the rebound off the final foul shot, but turned it over when Jacksonville snagged the ball out of mid-air for the win.

UNF returns to its home court on Saturday when the Ospreys host USC Upstate at UNF Arena at 2 p.m. It will be Senior Day with the Ospreys honoring Jasmine Hicks, Josil and Kerr.