By: KSU Sports Information
Watch I Game Notes I Live Stats
Coach Tilley Pregame
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Kennesaw State women’s basketball team looks to take another step towards securing a top four seed in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament as it puts its three-game winning streak on the line at Jacksonville on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
After this weekend, the playoff picture will start to take a clearer shape, but as of right now Kennesaw State (12-13, 7-7 A-Sun) sits in fourth place in the A-Sun just one game back of Belmont for third. North Florida and Jacksonville, who are KSU’s two opponents this weekend, currently sit in fifth and sixth place, respectively, just a half game back.
In their last time out, the Lady Owls got a jumper from junior Lisa Capellan with 10 seconds left to break a 68-68 tie as they held on for a dramatic, 70-68, win over Mercer on Saturday night at the KSU Convocation Center. With the game tied at 66-66 with 46 seconds left, redshirt-freshman Taylor Mills made two clutch free throws to put Kennesaw State back in front. Mercer then responded with a layup from Alex Phillips to tie the game for the 13th time at 68-68 with 34 seconds remaining. KSU had the last shot to win it and Capellan came through draining a jumper from the top of the key to seal the victory.
Jacksonville leads the all-time series over Kennesaw State, 8-5, but KSU has won three of the last four meetings. Junior Chelcey Farrar has averaged 8.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg in her last two contests against the Dolphins, and in her last five overall games the Powder Springs, Ga. native is scoring just under 14 points a game.
The key for Kennesaw State during their three-game winning streak has been their dominance inside the paint. KSU is averaging over 31 points a game in the paint during the streak, and it has a combined +22 edge on the glass over their last three opponents.
A KSU win on Thursday over JU, or a Lipscomb loss, will clinch the Lady Owls a berth in the Atlantic Sun Tournament for the third-straight season. A victory over Jacksonville will also match Kennesaw State’s best record after 15 conference games since the 2008-09 season when they also went 8-7 in A-Sun play.
Head Coach Colby Tilley knows how big this road trip is for his team, but he feels confident that the girls are focused and excited for the challenge in front of them. “The girls are very excited for this trip, but they are all fully aware of how big it is,” coach Tilley said. “Each game from here on out is important, but we are going to take them on one at a time. We are familiar with Jacksonville and as long as we stick to the game plan and play hard I like our chances.”
Jacksonville (9-17, 7-8 A-Sun) is coming off 74-64 win at USC Upstate on Saturday. The Dolphins return two starters from a team that went 15-17 last season. JU is led by the reigning A-Sun Player of the Week sophomore Jade Cargill who is averaging 18.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in her last two games.
