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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State women's basketball team returned to its winning ways as the Owls earned a hard-fought 46-40 win over North Florida despite some cold shooting at the KSU Convocation Center on Thursday night (Jan. 29).
 
"Any win is great, so I am excited about it," said head coach Nitra Perry. "I thought we grinded it out. We focused on having a better start to the game and so now we have to finish the game, including that middle part of it. We have just been really emphasizing that first four-to-eight minutes, which I thought we did really well. There was a lull and the maturity of the team [showed]. We had to figure out how do you to play really good defense and figure out how to put the ball into the hole without getting down, because your offense is not going the way you want it to."
 
Junior Jasmine McAllister paced the Owls (14-7, 3-3) with her Atlantic Sun Conference-leading 11th double-double of the season with 10 points and 15 rebounds, including six offense boards. Sophomore Deandrea Sawyers contributed 10 points for her 17th double-digit output of the season, including a pair of three-pointers in the win.
 
Trailing 36-31 with just over eight and a half minutes remaining in the second half, the Owls used seven-straight points, including a timely three-pointer from redshirt-freshman Kelly Dulkoski to take a 38-36 lead.
 
After the Ospreys (10-11, 1-5) evened the score, KSU grabbed the lead back for good with three-straight layups from McAllister and sophomore Aareon Smith to head into the final minute of play with a 44-38 advantage. Both teams traded free throws as the Owls held on for the 46-40 win, finishing the game on a 15-4 run.
 
The Owls built a 9-2 lead midway through the first half after holding the Ospreys scoreless for over five minutes, but the scoring drought would also hit KSU as UNF came back to take a 10-9 advantage at the 6:39 mark of the first with eight-straight points over the next three minutes.

The lead went back-and-forth as the teams traded baskets, before UNF connected on five-straight free throws to head into the break with a 20-16 advantage.
 
Out of intermission, the Ospreys controlled momentum and held a 27-22 lead with 13:54 to go in the second half. Following a Smith trey, senior Valescia Dixon scored the Owls' next six points to propel KSU to a one-point lead.
 
Six-straight points put the visitors up 36-31, before the Owls' 15-4 run gave KSU its third conference victory of the season.
 
It was a cold night for the rims as the Owls went 19-of-60 from the floor for 31.7 percent, but held the Ospreys to just 23 percent for the game on 14-of-61 shooting.
 
Senior Kristina Wells added eight points, seven rebounds, a game-high four assists and two steals in the outing. The Owls also got 16 points from their bench, including seven from Smith and six from Dixon.
 
KSU dropped the rebounding battle, 55-36, but forced the Ospreys into 13 turnovers, which the Owls converted for 16 points-off-turnovers.
 
Destinee Smith led the Ospreys with 10 points, while Paulina Zaveckaite pulled down 15 rebounds in the loss.
 
The Owls continue their three-game home stand as they host Jacksonville on Saturday, Jan. 31 in the KSU Convocation Center. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN3.
 
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.