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KENNESAW, Ga. – Behind 21 points and a career-high seven three-pointers from freshman guard Deandrea Sawyers, the Kennesaw State women's basketball team notched its first Atlantic Sun Conference win of the season with a 59-51 victory over North Florida on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 4) at the KSU Convocation Center.
 
The Owls improve to 3-10 on the season and 1-1 in conference action, while the Ospreys fall to 4-9 and 0-2 in league standings.
 
"This game was extremely important for us, especially after the second half where we fought back in our last game," said head coach Nitra Perry. "None of our kids, even Lisa Capellan, had been out there with a day between games. I was proud of the total team effort that was displayed for 40 minutes tonight."
 
Junior guard Kristina Wells continued her strong play with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals for the Owls.
 
It was a competitive first-half of play that saw 14 lead changes and three ties as neither team could build a lead bigger than four points.
 
Junior guard Bria Young came out firing with five straight points to give the Owls a 6-4 lead through the first four minutes of action.
 
The Ospreys then put together an 8-3 run to take its biggest lead of the half at 12-9 with just under 10 minutes left in the first.
 
With the UNF leading by two at 21-19 with less than three-minutes remaining in the half, back-to-back threes from Sawyers gave the Owls their biggest lead of the period at 25-21. An Osprey layup with 39 seconds left cut the lead to two to put KSU up 25-23 heading into the break.
 
UNF opened the second half with four-straight points to take a 27-25 lead, before the Owls used a 14-4 lead over the next four and a half minutes to build an eight-point lead at 39-31 with 14:35 left in the half.
 
With just over seven minutes left in the game, the Ospreys clawed their way back into the contest, trimming the Owl lead to two at 44-42 before Sawyers again responded with a three-pointer to push the lead back to five.
 
The Owls then held UNF to only two points over the next three minutes before a final trey from Sawyers with 27 second left in the game sealed the 59-51 win for KSU.
 
Young earned her third consecutive game scoring in double-figures as she poured in 11 points, including three treys and six rebounds. Freshman forward Gratia Brooks added seven boards for the Owls.
 
As a team, KSU shot 39 percent with 14 assists, the second-highest number of helpers for the Owls this season, with four of those coming from redshirt-senior forward Lisa Capellan and three from freshman forward Chloe Branch.
 
For the game, the Owls tied a season-high with 11 three-pointers, shooting 45 percent from behind the arc, while holding UNF to just 15 percent on three-pointers.
 
KSU also grabbed eight steals en route to forcing 16 Osprey giveaways, which translated into 19 points off turnovers.
 
Destinee Smith led the Ospreys with 15 points and five rebounds, while Larkira Jones added 10 points and eight boards.
 
Kennesaw State next hits the road for the first time in conference play, traveling to Nashville, Tenn., for a 7 p.m. ET contest against Lipscomb in Allen Arena on Thursday, Jan. 9.
 
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.
 
Season and single game tickets are currently available for all the home court action for the Owls and can be purchased by following the link HERE.
 
 

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