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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Kennesaw State women's basketball team had its seven-game winning streak snapped as the Owls' late comeback fell short with a 73-66 setback to Alabama A&M on Monday night (Dec. 29) at Elmore Gymnasium in Huntsville, Ala.
 
"It was an extremely disappointing loss," said head coach Nitra Perry. "We missed nine free throws. In the first four minutes of the game we probably missed five layups, overall we probably missed 10 layups. We may have gotten a little complacent as a team not being ready to play on the road. Before the game, pregame was really about maturity level of our team, so it was a big lesson for us to learn. We are going to take from it what we need from it and get better. We cannot rely on the last-second shot or the last-second comeback to win ball games and three-point shots. We have to go inside-out, which is what we have been doing and where we have been successful. We are going to grow from it."
 
Sophomore Deandrea Sawyers led the Owls (10-3) with 16 points, including four three-pointers and three assists. Junior Jasmine McAllister added 14 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
 
The Owls started off their final game of 2014 is slow fashion as the Bulldogs (1-11) opened a 17-6 lead over KSU in the first eight minutes of the game, including the first eight points of the contest.
 
With just under 12 minutes left in the first, the Owls finally came alive and used a 14-4 run, including seven-straight points and back-to-back three-pointers from Sawyers, to pull within 21-20 with 8:40 remaining on the clock.
 
Leading 29-25, the Bulldogs responded with a 7-2 mini run to stretch their advantage back to nine at 36-27, but five-straight points from the Owls on a jumper from senior Kristina Wells and three-ball from junior Karly Frye cut the score to 36-32. A pair of Bulldog free throws then sent the game into intermission with the Owls trailing AAMU, 38-32.
 
Out of the break, the Bulldogs pushed its lead to double-digits at 46-36, before sophomore Aareon Smith and redshirt-senior Breonna Mosely teamed to put together an 8-2 mini run to bring the Owls within 48-44 with 14:50 to go in the second half.
 
With the Owls edging closer, AAMU answered with a 16-5 run over the next seven minutes to take its largest lead of the game at 64-49 with seven and a half minutes to go.
 
Trailing by 15, the Owls put together a comeback with a 13-2 run over four minutes to close within 66-62 with 3:36 remaining in regulation. Four-straight AAMU points then pushed the lead back to eight, before the Bulldogs sealed the 73-66 win with free throws down the stretch.
 
Mosely added 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds, while Wells chipped in 10 points, nine rebounds, six assists and two steals for the Owls.
 
As a team, KSU shot 40.9 percent from the field on 27-of-66 shooting, but could not stop AAMU offensively, as the Bulldogs registered a 54.4 field goal percentage on 31-of-57 shooting.
 
The Owls pulled down 35 rebounds, including 15 on the offensive side of the ball, which they converted for 16 second chance points.
 
KSU totaled 17 assists on the night, one off from its season high. Along with Wells' six helpers, Sawyers, Mosely and Frye each turned in three assists in the contest.
 
Janie Myles led the Bulldogs with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Owls return to the Convocation Center for a two-game home swing to close out non-conference action, beginning with a 7 p.m. ET game against Florida A&M on Friday, Jan. in the Convocation Center.
 
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.