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KENNESAW, Ga. – Behind a career-high 26 points from sophomore Deandrea Sawyers, the Kennesaw State women's basketball team used a 47-point second half to earn its first win in an Atlantic Sun Conference home opener since 2008-09 with a 66-58 victory over Northern Kentucky on Wednesday night (Jan. 14) at the KSU Convocation Center.
 
"It was exciting," said head coach Nitra Perry. "People were saying it was exciting to watch, but it was not as fun to coach. I am just excited that we got that win. We bounded back from an awful free throw shooting the last game, so this game free throws did make the difference and I thought down the stretch the girls responded and they did what they need to do."
 
The Owls improved to 13-4 on the season and are 2-0 in Atlantic Sun Conference play for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
 
Sawyers connected on 6-of-12 from the floor, including a 4-of-8 mark from the three-point lane and draining 10-of-11 free throws, while also registering a game-high eight rebounds and two assists in the win. Redshirt-freshman Kelly Dulkoski added a second-half spark with 12 points, going 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
 
"It felt good," said Sawyers of her performance. "I always just remember Coach Perry saying it would be a tough game and you have to grind the whole way out. That is what my team and I did and we made it and pushed it through to get the win."
 
The Norse jumped quickly out of the gate for a 10-2 lead eight minutes into the first half, while holding KSU to just one field goal in the first 12 minutes of the contest. Back-to-back three-pointers from Sawyers then spurred a 10-2 run to even the score at 15-15 with 5:34 remaining in the period.
 
NKU responded with back-to-back treys of its own to run ahead by six just before halftime. Both teams then traded scores to go into intermission with the Norse holding a 25-19 advantage.
 
The Owls closed within a point out of the break, before Dulkoski hit her first three of the game to give KSU its first lead of the contest at 38-37 with 12 minutes to go.
 
Dulkoski continued her hot streak with two-straight three-pointers to send the Owls back into the lead, this time for good, at 46-44 with 8:39 left on the clock. Over the course of the next five minutes, the Owls built a five-point advantage, before Sawyers and Dulkoski drained back-to-back threes to extend the KSU lead to its largest of the game at 61-50 with less than two minutes to go in regulation.
 
A pair of Norse treys closed the gap to 62-56, but free throws down the stretch sealed the 66-58 victory for the Owls.
 
Junior Jasmine McAllister joined Sawyers and Dulkoski in double figures with 11 point, while senior Kristina Wells added nine points, seven rebounds, a game-high six assists and two steals.
 
As a team, KSU registered a 40.9 percentage from the field on 18-of-44 shooting, including going 9-of-20 from three-point land.
 
KSU bounced back from a poor performance at the charity stripe at USC Upstate last Saturday to shoot 77.8 percent from the free throw line, connecting on 21-of-27 freebies.
 
The Owls outrebounded the Norse, 33-30, with sophomore Aareon Smith grabbing seven boards to go along with Sawyers' eight and Wells' seven.
 
Rianna Gayheart paced NKU with 13 points, while Christine Roush added 12 points in the loss.
 
The Owls next head on the road to continue Atlantic Sun Conference play with a trip to Nashville, Tenn., to face Lipscomb on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 5 p.m. ET in Allen Arena.
 
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.