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DELAND, Fla. – The Kennesaw State women's basketball team gave Stetson all it could handle on Tuesday night (March 11) in the Edmunds Center, but ultimately fell 73-56 in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship to close out the 2013-14 campaign.
 
The seventh-seeded Owls finish the season at 6-24 under second year head coach Nitra Perry, while the second-seeded Hatters improve to 25-6 on the season to advance to the A-Sun Championship semifinals in Fort Myers, Fla., next weekend.
 
"I thought my team did a heck of a job fighting tonight," said Perry. "We were the better team tonight, no doubt in my mind. We played with more heart, we played with more guts. We did have some untimely turnovers. We shot four free throws to their 27 free throws. They were 18-for-27 from the line; we were 4-for-4, so if we could have gotten to the line a little bit more I think it would have been positive for us."
 
"I am proud of my team. You don't want it to end, but if it had to end today I would say that I'd do it all over again with this team this day because they a great job. We had some great moments during that game that we very well could have won that game."
 
Freshman forward Aareon Smith paced the Owls with a career-high and game-high 18 points and four three-pointers, while freshman guard Deandrea Sawyers added 12 points on four three-pointers.
 
After the Hatters put in the first points of the game a little under a minute into the action, the Owls jumped ahead with baskets from redshirt-senior forward Lisa Capellan and freshman forward Gratia Brooks.
 
With both teams battling hard, the lead changed hands six times to go along with three ties in the first 10 minutes of the contest. With the Owls leading 15-14, the Hatters scored the next seven points to take the largest lead for either team at 21-15 with just under eight minutes to play in the first.
 
Back-to-back three-pointers from Sawyers and Smith closed the gap for the fourth tie of the contest at 21-21.
 
After a Hatter three-ball to put the home team up, KSU used a 7-0 run to build its biggest lead of the game at 31-24 with two minutes remaining in the period. The run was capped with Wells blocking a Stetson three-point attempt, rebounding the ball and taking it coast-to-coast for the fast break layup.
 
The Owls turned it on defensively to end the half as KSU did not allow a Stetson field goal in the final 6:22 of the half with the only two Hatter points coming on a pair of free throws with 54 seconds left on the clock to send the game to intermission with KSU leading 31-26.
 
Out of the break, the Hatters scored the first 10 points of the half to go up 36-31 before a Smith three-pointer brought the Owls within 36-34 with 16:02 left on the clock.
 
The Hatters again jumped ahead by five at 39-34, but the Owls fought back to take a 44-43 lead on a 10-4 run with 11 minutes remaining in the game.
 
An 18-2 run from the home team then broke the game open in favor of the Hatters, giving Stetson a 61-46 edge with five and a half minutes to go as the Owls could not rally in the final minutes, falling 73-56.
 
"I just talked to my team about the ammunition for next year and earning respect," added Perry. "It is for us about Kennesaw State getting respected as a women's basketball program and all of our sports and we know that we are going to have to play two times harder for anybody to understand that. We committed after the game to doing that and getting better for next year."
 
Capellan joined Smith and Sawyers in double figures with 10 points and seven rebounds in her final game in the Black and Gold.
 
As a team, KSU shot 45 percent from behind the arc and drained 10 three-pointers, while making all four free throw attempts on the night.
 
The Owls dished out their second-most assists in the season with 17 helpers in the game. Junior guard Kristina Wells led the way with nine assists, while also grabbing a team-high 11 boards and three blocks in the effort.
 
KSU was hampered by 18 turnovers in the contest, which Stetson cashed in for 17 points. The Hatters also pulled down 13 offensive rebounds for 17 second chance points.
 
Brianti Saunders led the Hatters with 16 points, while Amber Porter added 15 second-half points to go along with 12 rebounds and eight blocks.
 
The Owls will now take a week off before starting preparation for the 2014-15 season.
 
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.
 
 

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