Women's Basketball | 11/8/2018 12:17:00 PM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The North Florida women's basketball team opens their season on the road for the seventh time since 2009 as the Ospreys travel to Tallahassee, Fla. to take on Florida State at 7 p.m. tomorrow night.
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Date: Friday, Nov. 9
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Tallahassee, Fla.
Opponent: Florida State
Coverage: Live Stats |
ACC Network Extra
Osprey Fast Breaks
- The Ospreys return two starters and six letterwinners from last season's squad that went 13-18 in 2017-18.
- North Florida returns their third and fourth leading scorers from 2017-18: Tiffany Tolbert (9.4 ppg) and Adrienne Jackson (7.5 ppg).
- Ty Purifoy dished out a team-high 101 assists in 2017-18, followed by Tolbert with 77.
- Arianna Emanuel-Wright returns for her senior campaign after averaging 6.5 points per game in 30 appearances last season.
- Sophomores Elli Bartley and Rhetta Moore will continue to add depth to the backcourt with 21 and 16 games played, respectively last season.
- Freshmen Cheyenne Patrick, Sara Idris, Ariel Scott and Lauren Gross will look to make their collegiate debuts on Friday night.
- The Ospreys are 3-10 in season openers in the Division I era, including 2-1 under Gibbs.
- Head coach Darrick Gibbs is in his fourth season leading the Osprey program.
Sweet Seventy
North Florida is 20-3 under Gibbs and went 8-3 last season when scoring 70 or more points.
Look Who's Back
North Florida returns six letterwinners, including two starters from 2017-18. Returning starters include guards
Tiffany Tolbert (31 starts) and
Ty Purifoy (30 starts). Other returners inlcude
Elli Bartley (21 games),
Arianna Emanuel-Wright (30 games),
Adrienne Jackson (27 games) and
Rhetta Moore (16 games).
Youth Will Be Served
Along with the team's six returners, seven newcomers are eligible to make their debuts this season. Junior transfers
Jazz Bond,
Janesha Green and
Dasha Eremeeva will join the rotation while freshmen
Cheyenne Patrick,
Sara Idris,
Ariel Scott and
Lauren Gross will look to see their first minutes for the Ospreys this season.
2018-19 Schedule
North Florida's 2018-19 schedule includes 27 games, and the team will play in nine states against schools from seven other Division I conferences. The slate has two opponents from the MEAC and one each from the ACC, Big South, Big Ten, Mountain West, SEC and SWAC. Three opponents - Florida State, Liberty and defending ASUN champion FGCU - played in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Colorado State, Bethune-Cookman and Jacksonville played in the 2018 WNIT, including WNIT champion Indiana.
Looking Ahead
The Ospreys open the home portion of their schedule with a pair of games next week. North Florida welcomes Trinity Baptist to UNF Arena on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 11 a.m. The Ospreys then host Florida A&M on Friday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.
