JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Double-figure efforts from junior
Claire Ioannidis and sophomore
Sierra Shepherd were not enough as North Florida women's basketball team lost 66-55 on Sunday afternoon in the final game of the UNF Hampton Inn Oceanfront Holiday Classic.
The Ospreys (4-8) now have seven days off and return to host UNC Wilmington on Tuesday, Dec. 29 at 3 p.m. at UNF Arena.
"Claire and Sierra are going to shoulder a lot of the scoring for us and they have to play well," said first-year coach Darrick
Gibbs. "They have been taking a lot of the load for us. They will have to continue to as we move forward and come back from the break. We would obviously like the results to be better, but earlier in the year we had other players who were also shooting well. However the last few games we have struggled there."Ioannidis had her fourth 20-point performance on the season with 24 points on 8-for-19 shooting and four long-range baskets. Shepherd recorded her eighth straight game in double digits with 17 point, going 6-for-10 from the floor, while grabbing five boards, passing out five assists and three steals.
"It is always great to have a team performance so scoring all of those points is great, but I want the team to win," said Ioannidis."
UNF started out strong with an 11-5 lead, but Campbell (6-4) quickly tied the score before going on a 10-3 run to take a 23-16 lead after the first quarter. Ioannidis scored 10 of her points in the opening 10 minutes. The Camels held UNF scoreless for more than six minutes in the second quarter when Shepherd finally ended the drought with 2:41 to play. The Ospreys closed within single digits, but a final basket by Summer Price, who finished with a team-best 22 points, gave Campbell a 34-23 lead at the break.
The third quarter saw UNF pull to within 43-38 on a pair of free throws from Ioannidis, but it was as close as the Ospreys would get as Campbell took its largest lead of the game in the fourth quarter and held on for the victory.
Campbell shot 44 percent from the floor on 26-of-58, while UNF struggled to find their shots with a 35 percent clip. The Camels' Amanda Coffer recorded 13 boards to give Campbell a 38-30 edge off the glass. Coffer also chipped in 16 points and had three blocks.
