By: by Jason Hanes
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Sametria Gideon scored 21 points and added 17 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season as the Kennesaw State women's basketball team fell, 65-60, to Jacksonville on Friday night in Atlantic Sun Conference action at Veterans Memorial Arena.
The Lady Owls (8-17, 5-12) fell behind by as many as 25 points in the first half, as no Kennesaw State player had more than one made field goal over the opening 20 minutes. Jacksonville (12-14, 7-10) jumped out to a, 23-2, lead with just over seven minutes gone by in the opening period of play.
"It's very frustrating for us as a coaching staff how we can play so well against a team like Florida Gulf Coast and then struggle against everyone else," said KSU head coach Colby Tilley. "We come out and have these slow starts almost every game. When we work hard, we can be very successful. When we don't work hard, games like tonight happen."
While the first half went almost as poorly as possible for the Lady Owls, KSU was nearly able to completely flip the script on Jacksonville in the second half. A 23-4 run cut Jacksonville's lead from 23 points all the way down to four. Gideon had seven of her game-high 21 points during the run that brought KSU back to life.
With the lead down to four, 48-44, Jacksonville would score 10 of the next 13 points to stretch the lead back into double digits, 58-47. Still, the Lady Owls weren't quite finished. A 7-0 spurt, fueled by five straight points from Angie Smith, brought KSU back within four, 58-54. However, on this night, four would be as close as the Lady Owls would get in the second half, as missed free-throws and turnovers in the final minute would prove to be KSU's undoing.
Smith joined Gideon in double-figures with 17 points. Chelcey Farrar added eight points and eight rebounds for the Black and Gold.
For the second time in as many meetings, a quartet of Dolphins scored 10 or more points. Gigi Thomas led the way for Jacksonville with 14 points in the win.
The Lady Owls will wrap up their final A-Sun road trip of the season this Sunday at Noon against North Florida. The game will be televised regionally by CSS.
