By: By Al Barba
GAMEDAY STORYLINES
• Winners of two straight, Kennesaw State (4-16, 3-3) returns to the KSU Convocation Center to host NJIT (9-12, 2-4) Thursday (Feb. 2) at 7 p.m. (ET).
• The Owls are coming off a 79-71 overtime victory at USC Upstate on Saturday (Jan. 28) and are currently in fourth place as the first round of ASUN Conference play concludes.
• Kennesaw State is averaging 62.7 points a game, and has three players -
Deandrea Sawyers (17.0),
Carlotta Gianolla (12.0) and
Clara Young (10.2) – scoring in double figures in its last six games.
• A win over NJIT will give the Owls their first three-game winning streak since they won a Division I program-record seven straight during the 2014-15 season.
• Current ASUN Conference Player of the Week
Deandrea Sawyers is coming off a career night after scoring a personal-high 29 points and collecting 12 rebounds in KSU's win at USC Upstate. It marked the senior guard's team-leading 10th double-digit scoring game of the season.
• Over her last four games, Sawyers is averaging 21.8 points and 8.5 rebounds a contest, while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 91.7 percent (22-for-24) from the foul line.
• Highly-respected head coach
Agnus Berenato is in her first season leading the Owls' program.
• Berenato is in her 30th overall season as a head coach that includes tenures at Rider (1981-85), Georgia Tech (1988-2003), Pitt (2003-13) and Kennesaw State. Heading into Thursday's game, Berenato has posted a 448-429 (.511) record and guided her teams to 11 postseason appearances (5 NCAA, 6 WNIT).
THURSDAY'S PROMOTIONS
Thursday's game marks Sorority Night, and free KSU fuzzy socks will be distributed to the first 250 sorority members in attendance. There will also be mini competitions throughout the night for the chapters.
GUEST COACH
Rick Siegel, a current member of Kennesaw State University's Board of Trustees, will serve as a guest coach during Thursday's game versus NJIT. Siegel, who is vice president of cardiac service line and cardiovascular medicine at WellStar Health System, is also a member of the Kennesaw State University Athletic Association (KSUAA) and the President's Athletic Oversight Committee.
USC UPSTATE RECAP
Senior
Deandrea Sawyers scored 15 of her career-high 29 points in overtime, and added 12 rebounds to lead Kennesaw State to a 79-71 victory over USC Upstate Saturday at the G.B. Hodge Center in Spartanburg, S.C. The senior guard, who had two points at halftime, took over the game after intermission, scoring 12 points in the second half to help lift the Owls to back-to-back road wins for the first time this season. Junior
Chloe Branch scored a career-high 14 points and freshman
Carlotta Gianolla contributed 10 points and eight rebounds in support of Sawyers.
SCOUTING NJIT
The Highlanders enter Thursday's contest with a 9-12 overall record and a 2-4 mark in ASUN Conference play following a 76-68 victory over Lipscomb on Saturday. NJIT is averaging 56.3 points a contest and has two players scoring in double figures. Senior guard Alana Dudley tops the Highlanders with 12.3 points a contest.
SERIES VERSUS NJIT
Thursday's game marks the third meeting between Kennesaw State and NJIT, and the Owls lead the series, 2-0. The Two programs met for the first time last season and KSU posted 64-48 and 82-77 victories.
UP NEXT
Following Thursday's game, the Owls return to action on Saturday (Feb. 4) when they host USC Upstate at the KSU Convocation Center on Youth Day. Tip-off is 2 p.m.
WINNING FORMULA
In their four wins this season, the Owls are averaging 72.0 points a game, outscoring their opponents by 10.3 points a contest, and shooting 40.7 percent from the field. KSU has also been dominant on the boards, averaging 46.2 rebounds a game, and outrebounding their opponents by 17.0 rebounds a contest.
Deandrea Sawyers has the led the way, averaging 17.8 points a contest, while freshman
Carlotta Gianolla is averaging a double-double with 16.7 points and 10.7 rebounds a game.
SAWYERS EARNS ASUN HONORS
Senior guard
Deandrea Sawyers is coming off an outstanding week in which she was named ASUN Conference Player of the Week. The Owls' senior guard averaged 24.5 points and nine rebounds a game, while shooting 46.7 percent (14-for-30) from the field and 90.0 percent (18-for-20) from the foul line. Sawyers reached the 20-point plateau in both games and recorded her first double-double of the season after scoring a career-high 29 points and collecting 12 rebounds during a 79-71 overtime victory at USC Upstate on Saturday (Jan. 28). Sawyers opened the week with 20 points, six rebounds and three assists in a win over North Florida on Monday (Jan. 23). In her last four games, Sawyers is averaging 21.7 points a contest.
SAWYERS SIZZLING
Senior guard
Deandrea Sawyers has made her presence felt in ASUN Conference play as she ranks fourth in the conference in scoring (17.0) and sixth in rebounding (6.5).
BOARD MEETING
Freshman
Carlotta Gianolla has been a force on the boards during conference action. She is averaging 7.5 rebounds a game to tie for second in the ASUN.
CHAMPIONS IN THE CLASSROOM
The Owls excelled in the classroom during the fall semester, posting a program record 3.57 grade-point average. A total of four student-athletes -
Chloe Branch,
Carlotta Gianolla,
Katie Polinsky and
Alexandra Landby - recorded perfect 4.0 GPAs.
THE GRADUATE
Redshirt junior
Chloe Branch participated in commencement exercises on Dec. 13. The Owls' forward earned a bachelor's degree in political science and is pursuing a master's degree in public administration.
GIANOLLA ASUN NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Freshman
Carlotta Gianolla was honored earlier this season when she was named ASUN Newcomer of the Week (Dec. 26). The Owls' rookie averaged 12.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and connected on 43.2 percent of her field goal attempts, while averaging 28.3 minutes a contest during the Puerto Rico Classic. She was KSU's leading scorer in two of three games, reached double figures in each contest, and posted her first career double-double.
COACHING CONNECTIONS
The 2016-17 schedule features two opponents that are led by former assistants of first-year head coach
Agnus Berenato. MaChelle Joseph, who was an assistant under Berenato at Georgia Tech, is now leading the Yellow Jackets' program, while her former assistant at Pitt, Yolett McPhee-McCuin, is now guiding the Jacksonville program.
THE COACHING STAFF
Head coach
Agnus Berenato has assembled an experienced and well-respected coaching staff. Including Berenato's 29 years as a Division I head coach, the KSU coaching staff has a combined 55 years of experience at the Division I level. The staff is comprised of
Khadija Head (8 years),
Sherill Baker (4 years) and
Lisa Pace (14 years).
WELCOME TO THE NEST
Head coach
Agnus Berenato announced her first signing class on Thursday as the coaching staff inked four players to National Letters-of-Intent and one individual to a Grant-In-Aid. Brianna Dixon (Duluth, Ga. / Duluth High School), Breanna Hoover (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Blackhawk High School), Lexi Mann (Stone Mountain, Ga. / Greater Atlanta Christian) and Alexis Poole (Ellenwood, Ga. / Stockbridge High School) have signed National Letters-of-Intent and will enroll at Kennesaw State next fall. Caroline Dan (Copenhagen, Denmark / Falkonergaarden Gymnasium) has signed a Grant-In-Aid and will join the program in January.
OWLS 6TH IN ASUN COACHES POLL
Kennesaw State, coming off an 11-19 season and fifth-place finish a year ago, was picked sixth in the ASUN Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. Jacksonville, which captured last season's conference tournament, was picked first in the poll after receiving 60 points and five first-place votes. Regular-season champion Florida Gulf Coast was voted second, after collecting two first-place votes and 55 points. Kennesaw State garnered 23 points.
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State women's basketball news follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook. Follow Coach Berenato on Twitter @KSUCoachB.
-GoKSUOwls-
