North Alabama Outlasts Ospreys in ASUN Road Tilt

Saturday, February 9

Florence, Ala.

2:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

9-12, 4-6ASUN

North Alabama

17-3, 8-2ASUN

North Florida

North Alabama

Jazz Bond stands at free throw line waiting for the ball

Photo by: Todd Drexler

2/9/2019 8:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

FLORENCE, Ala. - Despite a career-best double-double from Jazz Bond, the North Florida women's basketball team was unable to overcome a sluggish opening quarter in a hard fought 77-62 loss in the team's first game at ASUN newcomer North Alabama's home.

Bond netted her team leading fifth double-double going 7 for 18 from the floor.

Leaders
UNF

Jazz Bond | 23 points, 12 rebounds, 8-9 FTs
Arianna Emanuel-Wright | 13 points, 7 rebounds
Ty Purifoy | Five assists, 2 steals
Janesha Green | 10 points, 5 rebounds

North Alabama

Ivy Wallen | 31 points, 10 assists
Ansley Eubank | 10 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists

Inside the First Half
The Lions (17-3, 8-2 ASUN) got things started quickly posting an 8-2 run over the opening minutes of play. The Ospreys got baskets from Adrienne Jackson and Arianna Emanuel-Wright to cut into the lead. Bond connected on back-to-back trifectas to counter a scoring flurry for UNA, but North Alabama carried a 17-12 lead into the end of first quarter break.

Bond accounted for North Florida's first eight points of the second quarter, but UNA capitalized on a10-2 spurt to build a double-digit advantage. UNF continued to battle and finished the quarter on a 7-1 surge. The Lions led 35-27 at halftime.

Inside the Second Half
Ospreys raced out the gates in the third quarter cutting their deficit to four after a 7-2 run to open play. Emanuel-Wright (4 pts) and Bond (3 pts) were the driving forces in the rally. North Alabama answered with a 10-4 surge to push their lead back to 10 and eventually opened up a 13-point edge. UNF was able to cut the gap to 10 before the end of the stanza, trailing 57-47 heading into the final quarter.

North Florida pulled to within six points on several occasions in the final quarter before UNA closed out the game with a 9-3 run including scoring the final six points from the free throw line.

Osprey Fast Breaks

Bond's 23-point effort matched her career high while her 12 boards was one better than her previous best mark
The Ospreys slipped to 0-2 against league newcomer North Alabama
North Florida has had seven straight contests with at least one player posting a double-double.
UNF falls to 2-8 on the road this season
North Alabama scored 21 points on 23 Osprey turnovers

Thoughts From the Top:
"It was a tough loss. We didn't get off to the start we wanted to but we battled and competed. We cut the lead to six near the last media timeout and I thought we were in a position to turn the corner and go. We executed pretty decently defensively, but when we generated opportunities we just didn't finish well enough around the basket. We missed a lot of layups and chippies and that ended up costing us along with our turnovers. We lacked consistency on the defensive end. (Ivy) Wallen had a great game and crushed us off the dribble in the middle of the floor. She was able to get into the paint anytime she wanted.and that was something we emphasized coming into the game. We just didn't do a good job of stopping it or at least making it tougher. We gave up too many easy, uncontested shots and didn't finish our own and that's the reason the game ended like it did." -- Head coach Darrick Gibbs

What's Next
The Ospreys host Kennesaw State on Tuesday in UNF Arena at 7 p.m.