By: by Jason Hanes
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KENNESAW, Ga. - Angie Smith had 21 points and six rebounds as the Kennesaw State women's basketball team earned its biggest victory of the season with a, 63-52, win over Florida Gulf Coast in Atlantic Sun Conference women's basketball action at the KSU Convocation Center Monday night.
"This was the biggest win we've had all year," said KSU head coach Colby Tilley. "I think we really started frustrating [FGCU] defensively. We didn't give them hardly any open looks and we forced them to take a lot of time off the shot clock. They were able to play their game somewhat, but we were able to force a lot of turnovers."
FGCU entered the contest receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 and a No. 3 ranking in the CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 poll. KSU (8-16, 5-11) would be stymied early by their higher-ranked foe as the Eagles built a, 19-7, lead in just over seven minutes of action in the contest. Undaunted, the Lady Owls slowly began to erode the Florida Gulf Coast lead. KSU kept FGCU (20-2, 13-2) scoreless over the next six minutes of action, eventually starting what would prove to be a, 16-0, run. After a Sametria Gideon lay-up gave the Lady Owls their first lead, 20-19, a 3-pointer by Smith pushed KSU ahead by four, 23-19, with just under six minutes left in the opening half.
While FGCU would twice rally to take one-point leads, it was the Lady Owls who kept answering. A Smith 3-pointer with just under two minutes to go in the first half gave KSU the lead, 30-28, and the Lady Owls would never trail again. After FGCU tied the score, 30-30, the Lady Owls scored the final four points of the half to take a, 34-30, lead into the locker room.
The Lady Owls came out hot to start the second half as a pair of 3-pointers by Smith and Ashley Holliday stretched KSU's lead out to seven, 40-33. Lisa Capellan, who matched her career-high in points with 10, connected on a jumper to make the lead nine, 42-33. After a pair of free-throws by Gideon at the 17:40 mark, KSU had its first double-digit lead, 44-33.
While FGCU would threaten, the Eagles would never get any closer than six. With the lead down to six, 48-42, Smith and Chelcey Farrar would combine for KSU's next seven points as the Lady Owls went ahead by 11, 55-44. KSU wouldn't score again from the field after a Smith jumper with 3:27 left gave the Lady Owls the lead by 10, 59-49. On this night, it wouldn't be needed as Smith would score the final four points of the night for KSU on the free-throw line and the Eagles couldn't get anything on the scoreboard over the final three minutes, sealing the KSU win.
Farrar scored 13 points for the Lady Owls, but coach Tilley was quick to reference the sophomore's defense as a key to the game. "Chelcey is our best defender. She was all over the court tonight, wherever we needed for her to be."
KSU forced 26 turnovers on the night, cashing those in to the tune of 19 points. While the Lady Owls turned the ball over 12 times, the Eagles could manage just two points off the KSU miscues, the fewest allowed by the Lady Owls in the Division I era. FGCU entered the conference with a +7.86 turnover margin, but the difference on Monday night for the Eagles was -14.
Joining Smith and Farrar in double-figures were Capellan and Gideon, who each netted 10 points. Capellan and Smith tied for the team-high in rebounds with six.
FGCU entered the night averaging 11 3-pointers per contest. While the Eagles were able to connect on nine, FGCU only made nine other shots from the field for a total of 18. Sarah Hansen had a double-double for FGCU with 11 points and 10 rebounds but also had a team-high eight turnovers. Eglah Griffin had a team-high 15 points, with Shannon Murphy adding 10.
The Lady Owls will be back in action Friday night in Jacksonville, Fla., against Jacksonville. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m.
