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KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State women's basketball held a second-half lead against second-place Stetson, but could not hold on for the Atlantic Sun Conference victory as the Owls dropped a 70-58 decision to the Hatters on Saturday (Feb. 21) at the KSU Convocation Center.
 
"There were a lot of positives in that game," said head coach Nitra Perry. "I thought our first half, our first 15 minutes were really, really good. In the second half we were still up a lot of that, I just think defensively we did not hold it down. They had some timely threes late. Although they only hit eight, it was the timing of them when you are trying to cut down a five-point lead and I think they hit one and it went to eight and then hit another one and it went up to 11. I thought we had a good effort for the most part and now it comes down to the details of the game."
 
Senior Kristina Wells added another strong late-season performance with 14 points and 13 rebounds for her second-straight double-double and her sixth of the season.
 
Sophomore Aareon Smith poured in 14 points, including three first-half three-pointers, while junior Jasmine McAllister contributed 12 points and eight rebounds and redshirt-freshman Katie Hunt turned in a career-high with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor to go along with six boards.
 
Leading by four at 37-33 with 17:11 remaining in the second half, the Owls (16-11, 5-7) were held scoreless over the next six minutes as the Hatters (20-6, 9-3) scored 13 unanswered points to build a 46-37 advantage.
 
A jumper from Hunt with 8:41 to go cut the Stetson lead to five at 47-52, but a 16-5 run, bookended by threes from Myeisha Hall, over the next seven minutes pushed the Hatter edge to its larges of the contest at 68-52 with just under two minutes to play.
 
The Owls closed the game with a 6-2 mini run, but it would be too little, too late as the Hatters went on for the 70-58 win.
 
Smith came out firing on all cylinders with three three-pointers to propel KSU to an early 15-7 lead in the opening period.
 
After the Hatters answered with a Jama Sharp three-pointer, the Owls used an 8-0 run to take a 23-10 edge with eight and a half minutes to go.
 
Stetson then responded with a 23-10 run, including 10-straight points to pull with 26-24 with less than three minutes remaining in the half. A Hunt layup and one pushed the score back to 29-24, but five-straight Hatter points evened the contest at 29-29. A three-pointer from sophomore Deandrea Sawyers with 13 seconds remaining in the frame then sent the Owls into the break with a 32-29 advantage.
 
As a team, KSU made 23-of-61 field goals for 37.7 percent, while holding Stetson to just 36.2 percent for the game on 21-of-58 shooting. The difference came at the charity stripe, where the Owls converting 7-of-8 for 87.5 percent, while the Hatters went 20-of-24 for 83.3 percent.
 
KSU handed out 11 assists on the day, with junior Karly Frye totaling a game-high six helpers, but were hampered by 20 turnovers which the Hatters took advantage of for 18 points.
 
The Owls outrebounded its opponent for the fifth-straight game with a 44-35 advantage on the boards, including pulling down 13 offensive boards that KSU turned into 15 second-chance points.
 
Amber Porter paced the Hatters with a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds, while Sharp and C.J. Coddington added 14 each for the visitors.
 
The Owls will next head on the road for their final regular season conference road trip of the season, traveling to Highland Heights, Ky., to face Northern Kentucky in a midweek contest on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. ET in the Bank of Kentucky Center.
 
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.