By: By Al Barba
GAMEDAY STORYLINES
• Winners of four straight, Kennesaw State (6-16, 5-3) visits NJIT (10-13, 3-5) Wednesday (Feb. 8) at the Fleisher Athletic Center. Tip-off is 7 p.m. (ET).
• The Owls are coming off a 74-67 win over USC Upstate Saturday at the KSU Convocation Center.
• A win over NJIT will give the Owls their first five-game winning streak since they won a Division I program-record seven straight during the 2014-15 season.
• A victory over the Highlanders will also give KSU its first five-game ASUN Conference winning streak, and equal its conference win total (6-8) from a year ago while tying for the most victories since the ASUN went to a 14-game schedule for the 2014-15 season.
• Kennesaw State is averaging 65.6 points a game, and has two players -
Deandrea Sawyers (17.5) and
Carlotta Gianolla (12.4) – scoring in double figures in its last eight games.
• Senior
Deandrea Sawyers leads KSU with 12 double-digit scoring games and ranks No. 2 on the program's all-time Division I scoring list with 1,281. She is 93 points shy of tying Kristina Wells (1,374) for first place.
• Freshman
Carlotta Gianolla is averaging 16.0 points and 10.0 rebounds a game, while shooting 53.3 percent from the field during the Owls' current four-game winning streak.
• 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 450-429 (.512) record and guided her teams to 11 postseason appearances (5 NCAA, 6 WNIT).
• Saturday's win marked the 450th career coaching victory for
Agnus Berenato.
GUEST COACH
Jania Sims, a former player under head coach
Agnus Berenato at Pitt, will serve as a guest coach on Saturday. Sims, who played for the Panthers from 2006-11, is the current women's basketball coordinator of operations at Stony Brook.
USC UPSTATE RECAP
Behind a career-high 22 points from junior
Kelly Dulkoski, and a double-double from senior
Deandrea Sawyers, Kennesaw State defeated visiting USC Upstate, 74-67, Saturday (Feb. 4) at the KSU Convocation Center. Sawyers totaled 16 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman
Carlotta Gianolla contributed 15 points and six rebounds. Tied at 44 heading into the fourth quarter, Sawyers scored 10 points in the final period to help the Owls outscore USC Upstate 30-23 over the final 10 minutes. The KSU senior, who had a big overtime period against the Spartans last Saturday, and took control of the game in the fourth quarter against NJIT on Thursday, hit two field goals and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Dulkoski, who hit a career-high tying six 3-pointers in the game, made two big shots from beyond the arc for six of her eight fourth-quarter points.
SCOUTING NJIT
The Highlanders are currently 10-13 overall and 3-5 in ASUN Conference play following a 76-53 victory at Lipscomb on Saturday. NJIT is averaging 57.5 points per game and has three players scoring in double figures. Senior guard Alana Dudley tops the team, averaging 12.5 points a contest.
SERIES VERSUS NJIT
Wednesday's game marks the fourth meeting between the Owls and Highlanders, and KSU leads the series, 3-0. Kennesaw State posted a 75-64 victory on Feb. 2 in Kennesaw.
UP NEXT
Following Wednesday's game, the Owls travel to Fort Myers, Fla. to visit Florida Gulf Coast beginning at 4 p.m.
WINNING FORMULA
In their six wins this season, the Owls are averaging 72.8 points a game, outscoring their opponents by 9.8 points a contest, and shooting 40.6 percent from the field. KSU has also been dominant on the boards, averaging 43.7 rebounds a game, and outrebounding their opponents by 12.7 rebounds a contest.
Deandrea Sawyers has led the way, averaging 18.2 points a contest, while freshman
Carlotta Gianolla is averaging a double-double with 15.4 points and 10.4 rebounds a game.
GIANOLLA EARNS ASUN HONORS
Freshman
Carlotta Gianolla was honored for her impressive performance during last week's sweep of NJIT and USC Upstate by being named the ASUN Conference Women's Basketball Newcomer of the Week, the conference announced on Monday (Feb. 6). It marks the second time this year she has been honored. The Owls' rookie averaged a double-double, scoring 13.5 points and 10.0 rebounds a game, while connecting on 56.3 percent of her field goal attempts. Gianolla posted a double-double against NJIT (Feb. 2), scoring 12 points and totaling a career-high 14 rebounds. She followed that effort with 15 points and six rebounds versus USC Upstate on Saturday (Feb. 4).
SAWYERS SIZZLING
During her last six games, senior
Deandrea Sawyers is averaging 20.8 points and 8.0 rebounds a game. She is shooting 44.1 percent from the field, has scored 15 or more points in each game, including 20 or more points four times, and posted two double-doubles.
BOARD MEETING
Freshman
Carlotta Gianolla has been a force on the boards during conference action. She is averaging 8.1 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.
ASUN WEEKLY HONORS
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.
-GoKSUOwls-
