Strong First Quarter Pushes Kennesaw State Past @OspreyWBB

Saturday, January 16

Jacksonville, Fla.

4:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

-413, 02 ASun

Kennesaw State

-710, 20 ASun

Kennesaw State

North Florida

Photo by: Morgan Purvis

1/16/2016 6:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Kadesia Johnson records double-double in loss

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A strong start for Kennesaw State pushed the visitors to a 70-55 win against North Florida women's basketball at UNF Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Senior Kadesia Johnson recorded her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson also grabbed up a career-best four steals as well. Sophomore Sierra Shepherd led the team in scoring with 15 points, while also dishing out three assists and putting up two blocks. Junior Claire Ioannidis wrapped up the double-figure scoring with 10 points.

Despite the sluggish first quarter, UNF (4-13, 0-2 A-Sun) played a balanced game with the Owls. The Ospreys recorded a season-low matching eight turnovers, while picking up 13 points off Kennesaw State's 18 miscues. The visitors held a 42-38 margin off the glass, but North Florida had 13 offensive boards to Owls six.

"I thought we battled and played as aggressive of a game as we have all year as far as our pace and tempo," said head coach Darrick Gibbs. "We generated a ton of opportunities, but we just didn't capitalize on all of them. That 24-6 first quarter is really what killed us. They did a really good job of pushing tempo and getting their shooters out in space and caused a lot of problems for us and our communication."

KSU (7-10, 2-0 A-Sun) held the hosts to just two field goals in the opening 10 minutes to take a 24-6 lead. The Owls shot 50 percent from the floor while holding UNF to just 11 percent shooting. Ioannidis started a 13-5 run with a triple early in the second quarter to pull within, 29-19, with 5:18 to play. It was as close as the Ospreys would get as the Owls pushed their lead back to 16 for a 40-24 lead at halftime.

The visitors outscored North Florida 18-16 in the third quarter, but the final frame was in the hosts' favor. In the final 10 minutes, back-to-back triples from Hadley Kiefer and Shepherd brought UNF to within 60-48, but it was not enough to overcome the visitors. Kiefer's triple snapped a four-game streak without a long ball and the freshman finished with six points - her highest output since December 16 against Warner.

Kennesaw State shot 51 percent from the floor - the second highest of any opponent this season - and had a 10-for-20 outing from long range. The 10 three-pointers are the most given up by the Ospreys this year.

On the other hand, UNF struggled from long range, taking a season-low 15 from long range and making just four. The Ospreys were 22-for-70 from the floor for 31 percent shooting.

For Kennesaw, Aaeron Smith scored a game-high 23 points with six baskets coming from long range. Kelly Dukoski finished with 11 points, while Allison Johnson had 10. Jasmine McAllister pulled down a game-high 12 boards to go with seven points.

The Ospreys stay at home for one more game as they host Lipscomb on Monday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. at UNF Arena.