STATESBORO, Ga. - Kaila Rougier notched her second-career 20-point performance against Georgia Southern (4-2), but it wasn't enough for North Florida women's basketball to open the GATA Turkey Throwdown with a 85-75 loss on Friday afternoon.
The Ospreys had three double-digit scorers with
Lyric Swann and
Sarah Taub joining Rougier to make up 47 of UNF's 75 points in the game. They will have a chance to rebound quickly from the loss with another game in Statesboro against USC Upstate to close out the holiday weekend tournament.
GASO 85, UNF 75
RECORDS
North Florida | 1-5
Georgia Southern | 4-2
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
First Half: After falling into an 8-0 deficit early,
Selma Eklund was the first Osprey to break the seal with the first score on a driving layup...UNF went on a run of their own with a pair of second-chance makes from Swann and Taub to go up by five points on a 7-0 run...another layup from Eklund with under three seconds left kept the Ospreys up five to end the first period against the Eagles...the scoring for UNF came to a halt in the following quarter with only one basket by
Emma Broermann in the first four minutes...
Alexa Washington hit a three-point jumper at the 5:24 mark to tie the game at 28-28...another jumper from Eklund ended the half for the Ospreys down four going into the locker room.
Second Half: The offense was revived out of the break with Taub scoring eight straight for the Ospreys by herself to open the half...Swann followed her lead with back-to-back jumpers of her own, including a three-pointer, to bring UNF within one possession...Rougier scored six of the next nine points to finish up the third period down by three against GASO...she continued her scoring run from the third quarter with six more consecutive points to start the fourth...
Jayla Adams cut the deficit from 10 to six points late in the second half with a driving layup and a pair of second-chance jumpers...Taub sunk a three, followed by a layup from Rougier, in the final minute, but the Eagles made their free throws to take the first game of the GATA Turkey Throwdown.
LEADERS BY THE NUMBERS
UNF
Kaila Rougier | 21 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists
Sarah Taub | 13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals, 2 assists
Lyric Swann | 13 points, 8 rebounds
Selma Eklund | 6 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists
GASO
Terren Ward | 19 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals
Simone James | 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 assists
Eden Johnson | 13 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks
Ja'nya Love-Hill | 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists
COACH'S THOUGHTS
"I'm disappointed that we had an opportunity for a road win today and didn't capitalize on it. A lot of our errors today were self-induced and our overall intensity was inconsistent, which is not representative of UNF Women's Basketball. Georgia Southern effectively sped us up with their pressure and hurt us in the rebounding column. We gave up too many points in the paint.
We were intentional about getting our post players more touches tonight. Kaila [Rougier] played really well for us on the perimeter and she got to the rim at will. Lyric [Swann] mixed it up on the boards for us. There were definitely some positives and, fortunately, we have another opportunity tomorrow."
-- head coach
Erika Lambert
NOTES
- Rougier scored 20+ points for the second time in her career with the first coming on the road as well against Bellarmine on Jan. 19, 2023.
- Fifth time in her career matching her personal-best mark of at least three steals.
- Taub had a career day as well with a lifetime best 13 points and five steals against the Eagles.
- First Osprey to record five steals in a game since Swann did against Saint Joseph's on Nov. 28, 2022.
- Eklund led the team with nine rebounds, which set a new career-high for the red-shirt sophomore.
- Adams recorded six assists on Friday to garner her third of six games with at least five assists.
- Swann put up 13+ points and 8+ rebounds in the same game for the first time as an Osprey.
- UNF changed the lineup back to its season-opening starters with Swann replacing Rougier.
- Ospreys held the advantage for second chance points, 14-12, and bench points, 27-20.
UP NEXT
North Florida finishes out its time in the GATA Turkey Throwdown hosted by Georgia Southern with its first and only neutral site game of the season against USC Upstate on Saturday, Nov. 25, at 2 p.m., in Statesboro, Ga.
