By: KSU Sports Information
Postgame Notes
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Kennesaw State women’s basketball team gave Atlantic Sun Conference leading Florida Gulf Coast all it could handle on Saturday evening before falling, 58-51, in front of 3,027 fans at Alico Arena.
The loss drops the Lady Owls to 9-13 (4-7 A-Sun) on the year, while the win pushes the Eagles winning streak up to 11 with a record of 19-2 (11-0 A-Sun).
The Lady Owls had trouble containing the Eagles motion offense early as Florida Gulf Coast used a mixture of layups and three-pointers to start the game on a 12-5 run. KSU did a good job of staying poised though, using its size to score six of its first ten points in the paint to make the score 12-10 FGCU with 14:04 left to go in the period.
Kennesaw State really strapped in defensively for the remainder of the first half as it held Florida Gulf Coast’s potent offense to just 38 percent shooting to go into the locker room only down three, 31-28. FGCU came into the game shooting 44 percent from the field, but the Lady Owls pressured the Eagles into some tough shots and did a good job of controlling the boards as well.
Junior guard
Chelcey Farrar picked up right where she left off on Thursday night at Stetson as she led all players with eight points and six rebounds. Redshirt-freshman
Taylor Mills had six points in the first half as she knocked down the only two three-point shots for the Lady Owls in the period.
Coming out of the locker room KSU continued to match Florida Gulf Coast shot for shot only trailing 35-34 with just under 15 minutes left to go in the game. The Eagles offense eventually found its rhythm in the middle of the second half as they began to pull away from KSU using a 15-3 run to make the score 50-37 with 10:32 left in the game.
Kennesaw State cut the lead down to six with 48 seconds left in the game after a deep three by Mills, but couldn’t get any closer as Florida Gulf Coast held on for the win. Free-throw shooting really burned the Lady Owls down the stretch as they finished shooting only 52 percent (12-of-23) from the charity stripe.
The KSU defense was outstanding all game long as it held FGCU to 58 points in the contest which was well below its season average of 75.9 ppg and head coach
Colby Tilley talked about that after the game.
“Our defensive game plan was to make them use a lot of clock and to just stay in front of them so they didn’t get any free looks,” coach Tilley said. “I thought we did a good job of containing them tonight, and I am really proud of how hard the girls played as they stepped up to the challenge.”
Farrar and junior
Sametria Gideon both finished with double-doubles in the game. It was Farrar’s first double-double of her career recording 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, while Gideon tallied her fifth double-double of the season with a team-high 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Kennesaw State steps back out on the hardwood on Thursday, Feb. 2 when it hosts USC Upstate at 7 p.m.
