By: by Jason Hanes
Box Score
KENNESAW, Ga. - Brandi Jones scored a career-high 19 points as the Kennesaw State women's basketball team held on to stun in-state and Atlantic Sun Conference rival Mercer, 52-51, on Thursday evening at the KSU Convocation Center.
The win for the Lady Owls snaps a six-game losing streak, but it came down to the final horn. After the Lady Owls jumped out to a 10-point lead, Mercer came back, taking a two-point lead until a 3-pointer by Jones gave the Lady Owls back the lead, 48-47.
After a basket by DeAndrea Bullock made the score 52-49 in favor of KSU, the Lady Owls clamped down on defense. A block by Montinique Nixon on mercer's next possession led to a 30-second clock violation, giving the Lady Owls back the ball. KSU failed to score on the next trip down, but Mercer turned the ball over after missing a shot, giving the ball back to the Lady Owls with 42 seconds remaining.
KSU wound the shot clock down before missing a shot, and Mercer sprinted the other way and scored with 8.8 seconds to go. With the shot clock off, the Bears were forced to start fouling the Lady Owls; however, Mercer had only committed three team fouls to that point.
"The foul situation really worked out perfectly for us," said KSU head coach Colby Tilley. "We were able to take a few more seconds off the clock while they kept fouling us on inbound plays."
Eventually, Nixon was sent to the line for a 1-and-1 opportunity with five seconds left. She missed the shot, but KSU now had the fouls to their advantage as Bullock was whistled for KSU's fifth team foul with 2.2 seconds to go. The Bears had to inbound and couldn't get a shot off to win the game, as KSU snapped its losing streak.
Jones went 6-of-11 from the field, including 5-of-8 from beyond the 3-point line in scoring her 19 points. Sametria Gideon earned a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Smith had nine points and nine rebounds for KSU in the win.
Kourtney Carter scored 12 points to lead the Bears, while Lindsey Lowrie had 11 points. The Bears shot 38.6 percent from the field, compared to KSU's 28.1 percent, but the Bears turned the ball over 23 times compared to just 16 for the Lady Owls.
KSU will be back in action at the Convocation Center this Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. as it wraps a four-game homestand with an A-Sun contest against USC Upstate.
