JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida women's basketball took North Alabama down to the wire and showed fierce competitiveness in the second half despite narrowly falling to UNA, 73-68, inside UNF Arena on Thursday evening.

It was a well-balanced scoring attack for the Ospreys with freshman guard Jamisyn Stinson leading the way with 15 points and two steals, while shooting 6-for-11 from the field with three three-pointers. Freshman forward Jasmynne Gibson posted a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double and junior guard Sarah Taub followed with 14 points of her own.

Senior guards Kaila Rougier and Jazmine Spencer rounded out the double-digit scorers for UNF with 12 points and 10 points, respectively. 

UNA 73, UNF 68

RECORDS

North Florida | 4-20, 0-11 ASUN
North Alabama | 12-10, 7-4 ASUN

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

FIRST HALF: North Florida fought back from a 9-2 deficit in the opening minutes with a three-pointer by junior guard Helena Rofnsdottir and a pair of free throws from Taub to cut UNA's lead to 16-7 with 3:47 left in the first quarter…Rougier made back-to-back shifty layups that saw UNF trail by just seven entering the second period…Stinson banked in a layup that cut it to 24-21 at the 6:01 mark, then sunk a 2-point jumper with under two minutes left before North Alabama took a 35-27 lead into halftime.

SECOND HALF: The Ospreys came out firing…Spencer, Stinson and Taub all buried three-pointers in the first four-plus minutes as North Florida trailed 44-36…from there, UNF went on an 11-2 run capped of by another three-pointer by Spencer…Gibson got a tip-in layup to go to give the Ospreys a 55-53 lead entering the fourth quarter…Stinson sunk a three to regain a two-point lead with 8:30 left in regulation…North Alabama took a 64-60 lead with 5:26 to go on a free throw and was able to hold off the Osprey's fiery push down the stretch.

LEADERS BY THE NUMBERS

UNF
Jamisyn Stinson | 15 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
Jasmynne Gibson | 14 points, 10 rebounds
Sarah Taub | 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
Kaila Rougier | 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
 
UNA
Charity Gallegos | 25 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists
Sara Wohlgemuth | 14 points, 6 rebounds

NOTES

• Gibson was a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
• UNF was on fire from distance in the second half, shooting 6-for-12 from three.
• The Ospreys outscored UNA 28-18 in the third quarter
• Stinson was hot from three once again, shooting 3-for-7.
• North Florida didn't trail by more than four points for the first nine-plus minutes of the fourth quarter.
• Maddie Millar saw action for the first time in 726 days after fighting back from multiple knee injuries.

UP NEXT

North Florida will remain at home and play host to Central Arkansas on Saturday, Feb. 8, inside UNF Arena at 2 p.m.