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MACON, Ga. - The Kennesaw State women’s basketball team made history on Thursday afternoon taking home its first-ever Atlantic Sun Tournament victory in thrilling fashion with a 51-49 comeback win over North Florida.
With a heightened sense of electricity in the air both teams showed some nerves in the early stages of the game. Both squads combined to score only 15 points in the first eight minutes of the game. However, it was Kennesaw State (14-16, 8-10 A-Sun) who looked like the more poised team as it locked North Florida (13-17, 10-8 A-Sun) down on the defensive end to take a 9-6 lead.
The Lady Owls then proceeded to hit a dry spell offensively as they only scored two points in the next five minutes of the game which let the Ospreys take a 16-11 lead with 6:47 left in the first half. KSU missed several layups during the stretch, and UNF’s length inside was a big reason for KSU’s offensive struggles as it was a battle in the paint for the entire first half.
Kennesaw State went into the locker room trailing 26-16 as it finished the half shooting just 16 percent from the field. The 16 percent shooting was its lowest first half shooting percentage in a first half all season. Junior
Sametria Gideon led the Lady Owls in the period recording three points and six rebounds.
With North Florida leading 32-16 with 17:59 left to go in the game, KSU started to make its run going on a 9-0 spurt to cut the Ospreys lead down to seven. KSU continued to hang around at that similar deficit for most of the second half as it continued to have trouble establishing a rhythm offensively.
A-Sun Freshman of the Year
Taylor Mills wouldn’t let her team go down without a fight as she gave KSU a spark hitting back-to-back three pointers making the score 47-43 with just under two minutes remaining in the contest. Kennesaw State would then go on to make it just a one point game after a
Lisa Capellan free throw with 24 seconds left.
This is the point where Mills took over as she came up with a steal and a layup to give the Lady Owls its first lead since midway through the first half at 49-48. After a free throw by North Florida tied the game, Mills was fouled with two seconds left on a three-point attempt. The Knoxville, Tenn. native made two of the three free throws to give KSU the lead, and it held on for the win after a Capellan steal. The team celebrated its monumental win at midcourt at the final buzzer.
Kennesaw State closed the game on a 14-4 run and Mills accounted for 10 of those points. Mills led all scorers with 16 points and five rebounds, while Gideon also had a solid game finishing with nine points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
The No. 5 Lady Owls will now advance to the semifinals to take on No. 1 seed Florida Gulf Coast on March 2 at 12 p.m. The game will be aired live on Comcast Sports South and A-Sun TV.
