Second Half Explosion Propels Ospreys to Victory Against Kennesaw State

Tuesday, February 12

Jacksonville, Fla.

7:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

10-12, 5-6ASUN

Kennesaw State

6-17, 2-8ASUN

Kennesaw St.

North Florida

Arianna Emanuel-Wright dribbles the basketball toward the basket

Photo by: Todd Drexler

Second Half Explosion Propels Ospreys to Victory Against Kennesaw State

2/12/2019 9:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Final Boxscore

JACKSONVILLE - After a slow start, the North Florida women's basketball team exploded for 51 points in the third and fourth quarters and rallied for a 74-66 victory versus Kennesaw State Tuesday night from the UNF Arena.

Arianna Emanuel-Wright and Jazz Bond combined for 40 points to lead the charge, scoring 21 and 19 respectively.

Leaders
UNF

Arianna Emanuel - Wright | 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists
Jazz Bond | 19 points, seven rebounds, two blocks
Dasha Eremeeva | 10 rebounds
Adrienne Jackson | 11 points, 6-6 free throws

Kennesaw State

Kamiyah Street | 29 points, nine rebounds
Carlotta Gianolla | 10 points, 10 rebounds

Inside the First Half
Both teams struggled to find an offensive flow in the first half as North Florida (10-12, 5-6 ASUN) mustered just 22 percent from the floor and Kennesaw State (6-17, 2-8 ASUN) shot at only 33 percent. The squads combined to go 0-for-10 from beyond the arc in the first quarter. Arianna Emanuel-Wright was the driving force for the Ospreys finishing with eight of the team's 12 points in the frame, including the first six points of the game. KSU broke open a late tie, scoring 6 of the final eight points to build a 16-12 lead.

UNF scored the first seven points of the second quarter to race in front 19-16. The Owls responded by scoring the next 14 points as the Ospreys went scoreless for four and a half minutes. North Florida halted the KSU run, netting the final four points of the stanza to cut the halftime deficit to 30-27. The Ospreys shot a frigid 12 percent (2-for-16) in the quarter.

Inside the Second Half
The start of the third quarter acted as a track as the two squads engaged in a back-and-forth, high-tempo style of play resulting in the Ospreys finishing with 20 points in the period and KSU tallying 19. Bond was UNF's catalyst scoring 12 points highlighted by a stretch of eight straight points midway through the quarter. Kamiyah Street balanced the performance for the Owls finishing with 10 in the quarter to help the visitors maintain a 49-43 advantage at the end of the frame.

North Florida gained their first lead of the second half after scoring the first 10 points of the fourth quarter as part of a 13-1 run to start the period. Five different players contributed to the run with points in a balanced attack. The Ospreys maintained the lead and fought off three consecutive three-pointers by KSU that helped keep the margin at one possession. With the UNF lead trimmed to one, Bond drilled a key trey with just under a minute remaining to push the score to 68-63. North Florida salted the game away by making six free throws in the closing seconds.

Osprey Fast Breaks

Emanuel-Wright topped the 20-point mark for the fifth time this season and third time in the last four games
It was a tale of two halves for UNF, Ospreys were 7-of-38 (18 percent) from the floor in the first two quarters but finished the game 16-of-23 (70 percent) over the final two quarters
North Florida committed a season-low five turnovers in the victory.
Eremeeva reached double-digit rebounds for the fifth time this season
Bond scored in double-figures for the 11th time this season despite having her four-game double-double streak snapped.
UNF held a 34-28 advantage for points in the paint and also forced 16 turnovers that resulted in 16 points.
With the win, Ospreys reached double-digit wins for the third consecutive year.
Five ASUN victories equals the most under Darrick Gibbs.
The Ospreys improved to 8-4 at home this season with wins in two straight at UNF Arena.

Thoughts From the Top
"Huge win. I'm really excited about how we performed, especially in the second half. I was proud of how we responded and how resilient we were and how much tougher we played. I thought we got stops in the second half when we needed to and that means we rebounded a little bit better. I thought offensively we were great. We executed and played with pace. We adjusted at halftime because I thought we shot way too many threes in the first half, but went 2 for 4 in the second half and to me that was one of the big differences in the game. Good win for us as we continue to get better and move forward." - Head coach Darrick Gibbs.

What's Next
UNF hits the road with a key ASUN game at NJIT Saturday at 1 p.m.