No. 5 Women's Basketball Tripped Up By No. 1 Florida Gulf Coast, 73-44

Friday, March 8

Macon, Ga.

Noon

University of North Florida

12-19 (7-11ASun)

Florida Gulf Coast

27-5 (18-0ASun)

North Florida

Florida Gulf Coast

No. 5 Women's Basketball Tripped Up By No. 1 Florida Gulf Coast, 73-44

3/8/2013 4:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore (PDF)
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Highlights – UNF vs. Florida Gulf Coast

MACON, Ga. – Back on the court approximately 16 hours after their win in Thursday night's quarterfinals, the fifth-seeded University of North Florida women's basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 73-44 loss to No. 1 Florida Gulf Coast at Mercer's Hawkins Arena on Friday afternoon.

“We were not very good at all defensively in the first half and that really hurt us,” said head coach Mary Tappmeyer. “We knew it was going to be a challenge. To turn around and step on the floor to play one of the best teams in the conference at noon the next day, that's a tall order.”

Ki Conner led UNF with 11 points, while Jadhken Kerr grabbed 10 rebounds.

Florida Gulf Coast's offense was hot from the start and resulted in three starters – Joyce Iamstrong, Jaime Gluesing and Brittany Kennedy – all tally double-digit points. Iamstrong paced the Eagles with 22 points and a perfect 9-for-9 from the field. Gluesing and Kennedy added 13 and 12 points, respectively. Kennedy, the Atlantic Sun's Defensive Player of the Year, pulled down seven rebounds, dished out eight assists and had three steals.

The Eagles shot 47.5 percent (28-for-59) from the field for the game and were 56.3 percent (18-for-32) in the first half. UNF was 36.2 percent (17-for-47) for the game, but won the battle on the boards 33-32.

UNF had to keep pace with the Eagles – and particularly with Iamstrong and Gluesing – in the opening half. Florida Gulf Coast took several early 11-point leads, including at 13:30 when an Iamstrong layup made it 21-10. A jumper from Bre Crum and a Conner free throw brought UNF to within eight at the 11:40 mark. However, Iamstrong and Gluesing combined for four three-pointers during a 12-2 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes to put Florida Gulf Coast up 33-15 at 7:12.

The Ospreys saw Florida Gulf Coast take its largest lead of the half – 22 – when Kennedy made a free throw to make it 47-25 with 58 seconds left in the half. Octavia Langston hit a jumper at 46 seconds and UNF entered halftime trailing the Eagles 47-27.

“We gave up a couple easy transition baskets,” said Tappmeyer. “We didn't communicate on the defensive ends and they got some easy opportunities. It was disappointing that first 20 minutes. If you look at the overall season, we were the one team in conference to really play Florida Gulf Coast close. But it took a monumental effort each time we did it with a day of preparation in between games. They are the No. 1 team in the conference. They are great offensively and a phenomenally conditioned team.”
Florida Gulf Coast continued to build upon its lead in the second half and went up by as many as 31 on a Lerrin Cook three-pointer at 9:54 that made it 65-43. UNF attempted to chip away at the deficit and had an 8-2 run that brought the Ospreys to within 25 at 4:43. A Conner layup capped the run as Florida Gulf Coast was up 67-42.

After a Stephanie Haas layup made it a 27-point deficit at 4:21, a jumper from Fabiola Josil brought it back to a 25-point game. However, that was as close as UNF could get as the Ospreys remained scoreless for the remaining 3:01 and the Eagles added two more layups before time expired.

UNF finishes the season at 12-19 overall and graduates seniors Jasmine Hicks, Josil and Kerr.