Live StatsESPN3 Live VideoGame Notes JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – University of North Florida women's basketball kicks off the Atlantic Sun portion of its schedule on Saturday with cross-town rival Jacksonville in the River City Rumble at Veterans Memorial Arena. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m., and the game will air live on ESPN3.
"We are looking forward to tomorrow's game," said head coach
Mary Tappmeyer. "Jacksonville is a very athletic and aggressive team that wants to have bragging rights for the city. Cross-town rival games are always exciting to play, but it is our first of 14 Atlantic Sun games. We know we have to play with great intensity and execute our game plan for all of our conference opponents."
UNF comes off a thrilling 63-62 overtime victory over UMKC on Tuesday to wrap up its non-conference schedule.
Amber Robinson hit the first three-pointer of her career with 1.1 seconds left in regulation to ultimately send the game into overtime. Janeá Williams scored the game-winning bucket in the final second of overtime to lift the Ospreys to the victory. Williams, who snagged a critical offensive rebound on the last play, ended the game with her first career double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds). Meanwhile,
Destinee Smith paced all scorers with 28 points, her third 20-point game of the season.
UNF and Atlantic Sun Openers: Saturday is just the second time the Ospreys begin conference play with Jacksonville. UNF won the last conference-opener with the Dolphins 51-36 at UNF Arena on Dec. 3, 2011. The Ospreys are 4-5 all-time in Atlantic Sun openers.
As The Standings Have It: Heading into Saturday's game with two barrel points up for grabs (men's game follows the women's), UNF leads the 2014-15 River City Rumble standings 4-2. The Ospreys captured points in men's soccer, men's cross country, women's cross country and volleyball.
Nine Days Later: On Dec. 28,
Destinee Smith poured in 27 points at Florida, which was the second-highest number of points to be scored by a Division I Osprey. Nine days later against UMKC, Smith tallied a UNF Division I-era record-tying 28 points. Smith is one of three Division I Ospreys to score that many points in a game.
Scouting Jacksonville: Enters Saturday with a 5-8 overall record, but is 4-1 in home games… Saturday is its first game at Veterans Memorial Arena… comes off a 45-41 win at Savannah State on Sunday to conclude non-conference action… one of the Atlantic Sun's top three rebounding teams, averaging 41.4 boards per game… Sherranda Reddick averages a team-best 12.5 points per game, while Briona Brown is averaging 10.8 points… Kimberly Dawkins is pulling down 7.8 rebounds per game and Kayla Gordon is right behind with 7.5 boards per contest.
UNF-Jacksonville Series: Jacksonville leads the all-time series 12-8 and has won the last three meetings.
