By: By Al Barba
GAMEDAY STORYLINES
• Kennesaw State (9-19, 8-6) will host its first ASUN Conference Basketball Championship game when it welcomes NJIT (11-18, 4-10) to the KSU Convocation Center for a quarterfinal game on Friday (March 3). Tip-off is 7 p.m.
• The Owls enter play as the No. 4 seed, while the Highlanders are seeded fifth. The winner will advance to the semifinals to play the Stetson-USC Upstate winner on March 8.
• KSU is coming off a 96-69 victory over Lipscomb on Saturday (Feb. 25).
• The Owls have an all-time ASUN Conference Basketball Championship record of 1-7. Their lone victory was a 51-49 victory over North Florida in 2012 when they advanced to the semifinals before falling 76-53 to No. 1 seed Florida Gulf Coast.
• Tickets to the ASUN Conference Tournament are currently available for purchase and priced at $10 for adults and $5 for youth (3-17) and ASUN students. They can be purchased at KSUOwls.com and by calling the ticket office at (470) 578-6957.
• With an 8-6 conference mark, KSU has posted its first winning ASUN Conference campaign since finishing 11-9 during the 2008-09 season.
• Senior
Deandrea Sawyers leads KSU with 15 double-digit scoring games and ranks No. 2 on the program's all-time Division I scoring list with 1,354. She is 20 points shy of tying Kristina Wells (1,374) for first place.
•
Carlotta Gianolla is the reigning ASUN Conference Newcomer of the Week after averaging 24.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, and shooting 59.5 percent (22-for-37) from the field against Jacksonville and Lipscomb. She set a KSU Division I era record with 29 points versus the Dolphins on Feb. 20.
• Highly-respected head coach
Agnus Berenato is in her first season leading the Owls' program, and has posted a 453-432 (.512) career record while guiding her teams to 11 postseason appearances (5 NCAA, 6 WNIT) during 30 years as a head coach.
GIANOLLA NAMED NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Carlotta Gianolla was honored as ASUN Conference Newcomer of the Week for the third time this season on Monday. The Owls' freshman averaged 24.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, and shot 59.5 percent (22-for-37) from the field. She recorded back-to-back 20-plus point games for the first time. Gianolla opened the week in record-breaking fashion as she scored a KSU Division I freshman record 29 points, while shooting 42.9 percent (13-for-22) from the field versus Jacksonville on Monday (Feb. 20). Her 13 made field goals established a KSU Division I era record. She also added eight rebounds.
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)
Newcomer of the Week
Carlotta Gianolla (Feb. 27)
LIPSCOMB RECAP
Kennesaw State turned in a season-best performance in defeating Lipscomb, 96-69, on Senior Day Saturday (Feb. 25) at the KSU Convocation Center. The Owls, who had four players finish in double figures, were led by junior guard
Clara Young who scored 16 points and collected a career-high 13 rebounds to post her first career double-double. She also registered career-high totals of nine assists and eight steals. Freshman
Carlotta Gianolla turned in a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds, while senior
Deandrea Sawyers totaled a team-high 21 points and senior
Aareon Smith scored 13.
SCOUTING NJIT
The Highlanders are currently 11-18 overall and 4-10 in ASUN Conference play, following a 70-66 victory over USC Upstate on Saturday. NJIT is averaging 56.6 points a game and has three players scoring in double figures. Senior guard Alana Dudley is averaging 11.4 points a contest to lead the Highlanders.
SERIES VERSUS NJIT
Friday's game marks the fifth all-time meeting between Kennesaw State and NJIT, and the Owls hold a 4-0 advantage. KSU defeated the Highlanders 75-64 and 66-56 earlier this season.
UP NEXT
Following Friday's quarterfinal game, the winner will advance in the ASUN Conference Women's Basketball Championship to take on either Stetson or USC Upstate in a semifinal matchup on Wednesday (March 8).
WINNING FORMULA
In their nine wins this season, the Owls are averaging 72.3 points a game, outscoring their opponents by 11.1 points a contest, and shooting 40.6 percent from the field. KSU has also been dominant on the boards, averaging 43.1 rebounds a game, and outrebounding their opponents by 13.1 rebounds a contest.
Deandrea Sawyers has led the way, averaging 17.7 points a contest, while freshman
Carlotta Gianolla is averaging 14.4 points and 8.6 rebounds, and
Kelly Dulkoski is contributing 10.1 points a game.
GIANOLLA, SAWYERS LEAD WAY
Freshman
Carlotta Gianolla and senior
Deandrea Sawyers have led the way for the Owls over their last 10 games. Gianolla is contributing 16.3 points and 7.9 rebounds a contest, while shooting 52.3 percent from field. During that time, she has reached double digits nine times, recorded four double-doubles and scored 19 or more points on four occasions. Sawyers is contributing 16.0 points and 6.3 rebounds a contest, while scoring 20 or more points five times and posting three double-doubles.
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.
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-
