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POSTGAME INTERVIEW
ATLANTA, Ga. – The Kennesaw State women’s basketball team dropped an 80-51 decision at No. 20 Georgia Tech on Tuesday night, but did keep pace with the Yellow Jackets in the later part of the game, holding it to a 36-33 second half score.
“The second half we came out and played great defense,” said Kennesaw State head coach
Nitra Perry. “It definitely instilled some confidence in us and it’s going to help our momentum going into Morehead State. We set some internal goals for the second half that we met and I’m proud of how we played.”
Freshman
Chelsea Mason (Bellevue, Neb./Bellevue West HS) sent in a career high 16 points during the loss with five offensive rebounds and an assist to her name.
Kristina Wells (Douglasville, Ga./Douglas County HS) was right behind with 15 points, 12 of which came in the second half alone, to go with her three assists, two steals and 7-of-9 success rate from the free-throw line.
After a slow start in the first half that saw the 0-2 Owls go into the locker room with a 44-18 deficit, KSU came out with a three-point play by Wells to cut into the Georgia Tech lead. An 8-0 run by the black and gold at the 11:33 mark then instilled life into the visitors, sparked by a
Bria Young (Suwanee, Ga./Collins Hill HS) three-pointer to make it 61-26.
Five straight free throws by KSU between
Shadelly Guzman (Miami, Fla./Monsignor E. Pace HS),
Chantel Kennedy (Brooklyn, N.Y./Colorado State) and Wells then cut the lead down to 30 points for the Yellow Jackets with 10 minutes to go. Wells then hit one more freebie from the charity stripe to bring the Owls within 29 points at 70-41 before a Mason 10-footer cut it to 27 less than a minute later.
Mason brought the Owls as close as 26 points with a free throw at the 3:18 mark before Georgia Tech ultimately took the 80-51 win, their first of the season.
“In the first half, we were getting everything we wanted, but we just weren’t knocking shots down,” said Perry. “We had a lot of open opportunities that we needed to make and we will to continue to work on our rebounding as well.”
The Owls hauled in 39 total rebounds, 22 defensively, and were led by Kennedy’s 10, making the junior the first Kennesaw State player to hit the double-digit rebound mark this year. Kennedy was also good for nine points, the third highest behind Wells and Mason.
“Mason is a very aggressive and confident kid,” said Perry of her leading scorer. “She’s the quietest kid out there but I never have to tell her to shoot the ball and I appreciate that about her. We need players out there who will work hard like Mason and shoot the ball.”
Young was good for nine points as well, all coming in the second half on three three-pointers.
The Owls did outshoot the Yellow Jackets from the free-throw line, going 16-for-23 compared to Georgia Tech’s 6-of-12 performance from the charity stripe.
Center
Christine Wylie (Ballarat, Australia,/Bellarat HS) earned KSU’s first block of the season, swatting away one shot as did senior
Sametria Gideon (Madison, Ala./Bob Jones HS).
“We’re looking forward to Morehead State,” added Perry. “What we were talking about in the huddle is everything is preparing us for a championship game and preparing us for that championship run in the A-Sun.”
Kennesaw State will continue the road trip this weekend as the team heads to Morehead State on Saturday, Nov. 17, for a 5:30 p.m. contest before wrapping up play in the WNIT on Sunday against either Davidson or Northern Illinois.
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State women’s basketball news follow the team on Twitter
@KSUOwlNation and
@KSUOwlsWBB or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.
Kennesaw State University is celebrating 30 years of intercollegiate athletics during the 2012-13 academic year.
