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FORT MYERS, Fla. – Despite junior Jasmine McAllister's Atlantic Sun Conference-leading 10th double-double of the season, the Kennesaw State women's basketball team dropped a 61-47 decision to conference leader Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday night (Jan. 24) at Alico Arena.
 
"It was a disappointing loss, but I felt very proud of the fight that we displayed for 40 minutes," said head coach Nitra Perry. "We fought for 40 minutes, but we did not focus for 40 minutes, which is our goal. We talked a little bit before the game about efficiency in offense and in the first half there was a span in which we got three or four stops in a row, but then we were not efficient on offense and they make you pay with those threes when you are not. We took a couple of bad shots which led to some threes and we just dug the hole just a little bit deeper. The second half we tied with them and it is the second-consecutive game that we have either tied or beaten the top teams in the league in the second half, so I am very optimistic."
 
"Florida Gulf Coast is a great basketball team. At one point they were shooting 60 percent from the three. Kaneisha Atwater was shooting 28 percent coming into the game and hit 4-of-7 threes in this game, which was not usual. We were trying to play the odds and she made us pay. She is a great basketball player, but I thought that we did a great job on Whitney Knight, DyTiesha Dunson and Jenna Cobb. They only had two people in double figures and going into the game they had four people averaging double figures. Whitney Knight had the second-best scoring average in the league and to hold her to six points was huge."
 
McAllister notched her third 20-point game of the season with 20 points, including 14 in the second half alone, on 8-of-16 shooting, to go along with a game-high 13 rebounds, with nine coming on the offensive end of the court.
 
"Jasmine having 20 points and 13 rebounds was great, and while it did not really show up in the statistics, Kristina Wells played as hard as she has played in a while and I thought that was really positive for us," added Perry. "Kelly Dulkoski came off the bench and hit 50 percent from the arc. I told the team after the game, I feel like we are where we are supposed to be. We have to keep plugging away and putting our nose to the plow and not look back. I do think there is some positive momentum going into North Florida and Jacksonville next week, so I am excited about where we are and clearly we have to do a better job of guarding the three."
 
After the Eagles (18-2, 5-0) opened the game with a 7-1 lead, the Owls (13-7, 2-3) came back to even the score at 7-7 on a pair of free throws from senior Kristina Wells.
 
With less than 10 minutes left in the half, the Eagles sprinted ahead for a 25-13 advantage, but back-to-back three-pointers from redshirt-freshman Kelly Dulkoski brought the Owls within 27-21 with 6:22 left to play in the first. An 11-3 Eagle run to close the half then sent the home team into intermission with a 38-24 lead.
 
The Eagles continued the momentum out of the break and built a 49-26 edge with an 11-2 run through the first seven minutes of the second half.
 
Down 51-30 at the 12:10 mark of the period, the Owls put together an 11-4 run, including seven-straight points, to trim the FGCU advantage to 55-41 with less than six minutes remaining in the game. The Eagles answered with a three-pointer on their next possession to stem the Owl momentum, before going on to take the 61-47 victory.
 
As a team, the Owls went 35.3 percent from the floor on 18-of-51 and connected on 8-of-10 free throws.
 
Dulkoski pitched in nine points on 3-of-6 three-pointers for the Owls, while Wells added six points and six rebounds in the loss.
 
For the second-consecutive game KSU won the rebounding battle, 33-31, including pulling down 12 offensive boards.
 
The Owls forced 17 FGCU turnovers, but were hampered by 18 miscues of their own.
 
Kaneisha Atwater led all scorers with 32 points for FGCU and connected on 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. As a team, the Eagles shot 47.1 percent on 24-of-51 shooting from the field and drained 10-of-23 three-pointers in the win.
 
After two weeks away from the friendly confines of the KSU Convocation Center, the Owls next return home to open a three-game home stand, starting with a 7 p.m. ET contest against North Florida on Thursday, Jan. 29.
 
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