By: by Jason Hanes
MACON, Ga. - Sametria Gideon scored a team-high 13 points as the Kennesaw State women's basketball team fell in the quarterfinals of the General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Championship to Stetson, 65-47, Wednesday night at the University Center.
KSU (9-20) struggled out of the gate while the No. 2-seeded Hatters came out of the gates hot. The Lady Owls made just one of their first six shots while Stetson connected on six of its first seven attempts from the field en route to an early, 18-6, lead. KSU would whittle the lead down to just four, 19-15, after going on a 9-1 run, fueled by three points each from Ashley Holliday and Elaina Gray.
Stetson would answer KSU's run with a run of their own, scoring 11 of the next 12 points to stretch the lead up to 13, 30-17. It appeared that the Lady Owls would go into the locker room at the half trailing by 13, but Christie Leverette connected on a 3-pointer from just inside the half-court line with 0.3 seconds left in the frame. The sophomore was fouled in the process and connected on the free-throw to cut the lead to nine, 30-21, at the break.
"I thought that four-point play would be a real momentum swing for us," said KSU head coach Colby Tilley. "We had cut it to nine, and we had the ball to start the second half, but instead we turned it over and we couldn't take advantage."
Stetson would stretch the lead out to 16, 47-31, but the Lady Owls would trim the deficit down to 10 again. In coach Tilley's opinion, one of the most important stretches of the contest would play out over the next 40 seconds. KSU would force a Stetson turnover, and the Lady Owls had a chance to get the lead into single-digits, but a lay-up fell off the iron. After a block on the other end by Chelcey Farrar, KSU had the same opportunity, but a turnover would doom the chance. Stetson would get a lay-up on the other end, and Smith would be called for charging 40 seconds later. Still, KSU could keep it close after another Stetson turnover, but a 3-point try came up short and Stetson would score again to stretch the lead up to 14, 52-38.
The Hatters (18-12) would get the lead as high as 21 after holding the Lady Owls to just four points over a seven-minute stretch late in the second half. As the final horn sounded on KSU's A-Sun Championship hopes, the scoreboard showed a deficit of 18 points, 65-47.
The Lady Owls lost despite forcing 26 Stetson turnovers and collecting 15 steals. Smith, the A-Sun's leader in steals per game, had a game-high five in the contest, as seven of the eight KSU players who dressed recorded at least one steal.
Gray pulled down a career-high nine rebounds to tie for game-high honors. Gideon fell just shy of a double-double by grabbing eight rebounds of her own.
Tierra Brown was one of five Hatters in double-figures with 25 points. Victoria McGowan had 12 points and 11 turnovers, while Natasha Graboski scored 11 and Sasha Sims netted 10.
While KSU bowed out of the A-Sun Championship, they will not be done playing just yet. The Lady Owls will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., to face North Carolina Mar. 13 at 4 p.m.
