#WBB Rally Halted in 57-51 Loss to A-Sun Leader Northern Kentucky

Thursday, January 16

Jacksonville, Fla.

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

-411, 04 ASun

Northern Kentucky

-97, 50 ASun

Northern Kentucky

North Florida

Photo by: Todd Drexler

#WBB Rally Halted in 57-51 Loss to A-Sun Leader Northern Kentucky

1/16/2014 9:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore (PDF)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Despite 20 points from Ki Conner, University of North Florida women's basketball came up just short against Atlantic Sun leader Northern Kentucky, dropping a 57-51 game at UNF Arena on Thursday night.

"We batteled and showed some toughness that we had been lacking," said head coach Mary Tappmeyer. "We worked hard and made some extra effort plays that helped us."

Conner's 20 points were game and season highs. Raneisha Lamar added in 11 points. Brittney Wright dished out four assists, while Larkira Jones made a career-high tying four steals. Lamar and Jones both grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.

"Ki had been in a bit of shooting slump, but she's been in the gym working on it," said Tappmeyer. "Senior leadership shows when it's time to go. Both Ki and Raneisha battled. Kira got a huge steal on the in-bounds. The effort they displayed is going to take us pretty far."

The Ospreys shot 37.0 percent (20-for-54) from the field and held a slim 34-32 rebound advantage.

Christine Roush and Kelley Wiegman scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, to lead the Norse. Melody Doss, Kaitlyn Gerrety and Kayla Thacker each grabbed a team-best five rebounds. Wiegman also had four assists.

Northern Kentucky shot 41.9 percent (18-for-43) from the field, but was 84.2 percent (16-for-19) from the foul line. Roush (6-for-6) and Wiegman (8-for-10) went a combined 14-for-16 from the charity stripe.

UNF got out to a slow start and saw Northern Kentucky take an early 8-0 lead. The Ospreys' first basket didn't occur until 12:44 when Janeá Williams hit a jumper. UNF brought the Northern Kentucky's lead down to four with Destinee Smith hitting both foul shots at 9:30 to make it 10-6. The Norse responded with a 9-0 run and went up 19-6 at 6:51 on a Lauren White trey.

UNF played strong defense over the next six-and-a-half minutes, keeping the Norse scoreless while going on a 9-0 run of its own. A jumper from Conner at 6:21 sparked the Ospreys' run, which was capped by a Wright three at 1:43 to make it 19-15. After Wiegman made a free throw to make it a five-point game, a Lamar layup at 1:12 brought the Ospreys to within three. However, Wiegman got a layup at 11 seconds as Northern Kentucky took a 22-17 lead into halftime.

The Ospreys came out strong in the second half, going on a 12-3 run to take a 29-25 lead at 16:57. Conner knocked down a pair of threes and a jumper to help the Ospreys to their four-point advantage. Northern Kentucky fought back and regained the lead, going up 31-30 on a pair of Roush free throws at 14:13. Although a three from Conner returned the lead to the Ospreys, a Gerrety layup sparked a 10-0 run that put the Norse up 41-33 with 10:01 to go.

UNF battled back and ultimately tied it at 48-48 with a Jones free throw at 3:00. However, Northern Kentucky went on to finish the game with a 9-3 run to get the win.

UNF returns to action on Saturday when the Ospreys host Lipscomb. Tip is set for 4:30 p.m., at UNF Arena.