NORTH FLORIDA AT KENNESAW STATE Feb. 18 | 2 p.m. | KSU Convocation Center Watch | Live Stats | KSU Game Notes Twitter: @KSUOwlsWBB

GAMEDAY STORYLINES
• Kennesaw State (7-18, 6-5) hosts North Florida (10-16, 3-8) Saturday (Feb. 18) at the KSU Convocation Center. Tip-off is 2 p.m. (ET). It will also mark the annual Pink Game as the Owls will wear pink in an effort to bring awareness to breast cancer.
• KSU is coming off a 60-43 loss at Stetson on Monday (Feb. 13).
• A win over North Florida will secure fourth place and clinch an ASUN Conference Tournament home game for KSU.
• A win over the Ospreys will also guarantee the Owls their first .500 or better conference mark since 2008-09 when they finished 11-9.
• Senior Deandrea Sawyers leads KSU with 13 double-digit scoring games and ranks No. 2 on the program's all-time Division I scoring list with 1,309. She is 65 points shy of tying Kristina Wells (1,374) for first place.
• During their recent five-game winning streak, the Owls had three players - Deandrea Sawyers (21.4 ppg.), Carlotta Gianolla (14.8) and Kelly Dulkoski (10.8) - average in double figures, while KSU scored 72.2 points a game, and outrebounded its opponents by nearly 10 rebounds (9.4) a game. 
• Highly-respected head coach Agnus Berenato is in her first season leading the Owls' program.
• This year marks Berenato's 30th season as a head coach that includes tenures at Rider (1981-85), Georgia Tech (1988-2003), Pitt (2003-13) and Kennesaw State. Heading into Saturday's game, Berenato has posted a 451-431 (.511) record and guided her teams to 11 postseason appearances (5 NCAA, 6 WNIT).
 
PROMOTIONS
Fans are encouraged to wear pink to Saturday's game as the Owls will honor breast cancer survivors.  The program is seeking to raise $1,000 to donate to the Kay Yow Fund. The KSU Club Dance team will perform at halftime.
 
GUEST COACH
Saturday's guest coach will be Twyanna Callahan. A breast cancer survivor, Callahan is the general manager at the Kennesaw Fuddruckers. In recognition of the Pink Game and in support of breast cancer awareness, Callahan will make a donation from Fuddruckers' proceeds to breast cancer research.
 
STETSON RECAP
Freshman Carlotta Gianolla recorded a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead Kennesaw State during a 60-43 setback at Stetson on Monday. The Owls, matched up against a Hatters team that leads the ASUN Conference in field goal percentage defense, were held without a made 3-point field goal for the first time this season as they went 0-for-9 from behind the arc, and finished the game shooting 31 percent (17-for-55) from the field. Gianolla, who recorded her fifth double-double of the season, reached double-digit scoring for the eighth straight game. Stetson, which won its 10th straight game, took control early, building a 19-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, and built its largest lead of the game at 49-22 with 5:20 remaining in the third quarter.
 
SCOUTING NORTH FLORIDA
The Ospreys enter the weekend with a 10-16 overall record and a 3-8 mark in ASUN play. North Florida is averaging 61.4 points a game and is led by junior Tesh Hanson, who is averaging 12.0 points a game and ranks seventh in the ASUN Conference in scoring.
 
SERIES VERSUS NORTH FLORIDA
Saturday's game will mark the 42nd all-time meeting between Kennesaw State and North Florida, and the Owls lead the series, 25-16. KSU has won five straight in the series, including a 67-61 victory earlier this season in Jacksonville.
 
UP NEXT
Following Saturday's game, the Owls will welcome Jacksonville to the KSU Convocation Center on Monday for a 7 p.m. contest. 
 
WINNING FORMULA
In their seven wins this season, the Owls are averaging 71.9 points a game, outscoring their opponents by 9.9 points a contest, and shooting 40.4 percent from the field. KSU has also been dominant on the boards, averaging 42.7 rebounds a game, and outrebounding their opponents by 11.0 rebounds a contest. Deandrea Sawyers has led the way, averaging 18.4 points a contest, while freshman Carlotta Gianolla is averaging 14.5 points and 9.2 rebounds a game.
 
GIANOLLA, SAWYERS LEAD WAY
Senior Deandrea Sawyers and freshman Carlotta Gianolla have led the way for the Owls over their last eight games. Sawyers is contributing 16.3 points and 7.5 rebounds a contest, while Gianolla is scoring 14.5 points and collecting 7.4 boards a contest, while reaching double digits in points each game and recording three double-doubles. Sawyers, meanwhile, has totaled double-digit scoring games six times, including a career-high 29 points at USC Upstate on Jan. 28.
 
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.

ASUN WEEKLY HONORS

Player of the Week	Deandrea Sawyers (Jan. 30)
Newcomer of the Week	Carlotta Gianolla (Dec. 26)
Newcomer of the Week	Carlotta Gianolla (Feb. 6)

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. Defending tournament champion Jacksonville, 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.   
 

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