By: by KSU Sports Information
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Sametria Gideon had her second-straight double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, but a pair of late-half runs by East Tennessee State sent Kennesaw State to a, 77-61, loss in Atlantic Sun Conference women's basketball action at the MHSA Center.
"I thought our kids played really hard considering the circumstances. We only had six players available today because four players violated team rules," said KSU head coach Colby Tilley. "Still, we only had those six players and we were really in the game for most of 37 minutes."
The Lady Owls (7-10, 2-4) dressed just six players for the contest, but still got solid efforts across the court. Four players scored in double-figures, with Gideon leading the way. Tamasha Bolden had a season-high 12 points, while Elaina Gray added a dozen and Taylor Mills scored 11. Carmen Lockhart set season-bests with nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks in 16 minutes of action, while Ashley Holliday chipped in five assists and five rebounds.
KSU, who saw its three-game road win streak come to an end, overcame an early 13-8 deficit with a 14-2 run to take its largest lead of the contest, 22-15. After tying the game on a 3-pointer from Mills, Gray put KSU on top with a pair of free-throws. With 11:30 left, Gideon connected on a jumper to give the Lady Owls the lead by four. ETSU slowed the momentum briefly with a jumper, but a 3-pointer by Holliday and a lay-up by Gideon gave KSU the seven-point advantage with 10:15 left in the first half.
ETSU (4-11, 3-2) would turn the game around after the 10-minute mark of the period, using a 16-2 run over the next 3:20 to take the lead, 31-24. KSU would pull within three on two occasions, but the Lady Bucs would go into halftime with a seven-point advantage, 40-33.
With the first five points of the second half, ETSU stretched its lead up to 12, but the Lady Owls would fight back. Down 57-48, six straight points by KSU from Bolden, Gray and Lockhart cut the deficit back down to three, 57-54.
KSU would keep it close for a while, but ETSU was able to grind down the KSU Six. Ahead 59-56, the Lady Bucks scored the next 10 points to stretch the lead up to double-digits once again with 4:15 to go in the contest. KSU would manage just six points in the final four minutes as ETSU ran the winning margin up to 16 in the end.
"The runs came when we had some breakdowns on defense," said coach Tilley. "We forced [ETSU] to take some bad shots, but we let them get in position to get rebounds and second-chances. We can't afford chances like that. ETSU is one of the perennial powers in this league, and their record this year doesn't really reflect how good of a team they are."
The Lady Owls out-rebounded ETSU, 40-33, but ETSU was able to get 16 offensive boards to KSU's 15. The Lady Owls had a better percentage from the field (41.5 percent to 40.3 percent) but ETSU took 14 more shots and connected on nine 3-pointers compared to just five for the Lady Owls.KSU had a 7-5 advantage in blocks thanks to Lockhart's trio.
"Carmen is getting better," coach Tilley said. "As the season goes along, she's getting more comfortable with what we're going to ask her to do. I think once she gets in better shape and her stamina improves, she's going to be even better."
Kennesaw State will be idle until Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. when it takes on in-state rival Mercer at the University Center in Macon, Ga. ASun.TV and KSU All-Access will have full coverage of the event.
