Jan. 24, 2009
Box Score
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Jennifer Baker's running jumper in the lane with 4.1 seconds left provided the margin of victory as the Kennesaw State women's basketball team defeated Belmont 61-59 to earn a sweep of a pair of Atlantic Sun Conference games in Nashville.
Winners on Thursday night against Lipscomb on a buzzer-beater by Greteya Kelley, the Lady Owls needed late-game heroics once again to get another victory. After a timeout with 8.3 seconds to go in a tie game, KSU head coach Colby Tilley called the final play. "Originally, I thought we inbounded the ball with the shot clock off, but there was a three-second difference between the two clocks, so really we only had five seconds to shoot," said Coach Tilley. "I just decided our best option was to get it to Jennifer and let her drive to the basket."
After Coach Tilley felt he nearly lost the game for the team with the timeout, instead Baker's heroics won the game for the Lady Owls. Belmont's Kristin Bunch had a look at a three-pointer as time expired, but her shot fell well short, giving the win to the Lady Owls.
The contest was a hard-fought battle between the two squads. In a game that featured 14 ties and 12 lead changes, Belmont's largest lead in the second half was just three points, with that coming on a LaWanna Holiday three-pointer with 15 minutes remaining that made the score 39-36 in favor of the home team. The Lady Owls (8-9, 5-4) erased that lead and with the visitors up just 51-49 with 8:24 to go, KSU scored the next three points on back-to-back three-pointers by Baker and DeAndrea Bullock to put KSU ahead 57-49, the largest KSU lead of the game.
Belmont (12-7, 7-3) stormed back, cutting the lead down to one, 57-56. Baker pushed the lead back up to three with a jumper, and Belmont drained one free throw but missed the second. The Lady Owls got the rebound but turned the ball over, allowing Belmont to get a lay-up to tie the game up, setting the stage for Baker's heroics.
Bullock scored 11 points for KSU to go along with a team-high eight rebounds. Belmont's Jessica Bobbitt led all scorers and rebounders with 17 points and 11 boards.
The Lady Owls will be back in action this Wednesday when they travel to Mercer for a regionally-televised game against Mercer. Tip-off from the Mercer University Center is set for 9:00 p.m.
