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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Kennesaw State women's basketball team missed a last-second three-pointer as the Owls fell 73-70 to Jacksonville on Thursday (Feb. 12) night at Historic Swisher Gymnasium.
 
"Overall we just had issues with consistency," said head coach Nitra Perry. "We have the same people providing the same energy every game. I thought they just had a lot more energy than us. It did not help that they made 22-of-34 free throws and we only shot 22. It is pretty disheartening when we almost have to play perfect to win these ball games. I thought we gave our best shot. I felt like we had a shot at the end. We were in a position to tie it up and that is the only thing you can ask for. We have to keep going and get this win at North Florida."
 
Senior Kristina Wells paced the Owls (15-9, 4-5) with a game-high 18 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor and an 8-of-10 effort from the charity stripe, to go along with seven rebounds and six assists.
 
Also joining Wells in double figures was sophomores Deandrea Sawyers and Aareon Smith and redshirt-freshman Kelly Dulkoski each with 12 points in the loss, with Dulkoski draining 4-of-6 from long range.
 
Holding a 54-46 lead with 14 minutes to go in the second half, the Owls' eight-point advantage was erased by a 12-3 Dolphin run over the next six minutes as JU (9-13, 4-5) took a 58-57 edge with 8:04 left on the clock.
 
After trading baskets, JU scored the next seven points to put the Dolphins up 66-60 with just under four minutes to go. KSU trimmed the lead to two at 68-66 following two Wells free throws, but the home team again answered with a 5-0 mini run.
 
A three-pointer from junior Karly Frye gave the Owls hope, before Wells was fouled and sent to the line for a pair of freebies. After making the first, Wells missed the second with the ball deflecting out-of-bounds by the Dolphins with 2.5 seconds remaining in regulation. A last-second three by Dulkoski went long as the Owls fell 73-70.
 
In a back-and-forth first half of action that saw nine lead changes and three ties, back-to-back threes from Smith gave KSU its first separation of the night at 23-17 with nine and a half minutes left in the period.
 
The Dolphins battled back to take a 26-25 lead at the 3:20 mark, before a 10-2 run pushed the Owls ahead by seven at 35-28. JU again cut the lead to one with 30 seconds remaining in the half, but a Dulkoski three then sent the owls into the locker room up 40-36 at the break.
 
After a layup from redshirt-freshman Katie Hunt to open the scoring for Kennesaw State in the second half, Wells scored the Owls' next seven points to propel KSU to the eight point advantage.
 
As a team, KSU went 22-of-50 from the field for 44 percent, while connecting on 16-of-22 free throws. JU made 23-of-52 for 44.2 percent, but drilled 5-of-11 threes and went 22-of-34 from the charity stripe.
 
The Owls won the battle of the boards, 36-31, including 11 on the offensive end for 11 second chance points, but were hampered by 23 turnovers that JU converted for 31 points.
 
Kayla Gordon led the Dolphins with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Briona Brown and Sherranda Reddick each added 17 points.
 
KSU continues its Jacksonville, Fla., road trip with a game against North Florida on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. in UNF 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.