ASUN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS March 3 | 7 p.m. | Edmunds Center Watch | Live Stats | KSU Game Notes Twitter: @KSUOwlsWBB

GAMEDAY STORYLINES
• Kennesaw State (10-19) will visit Stetson (25-5) in the ASUN Conference Basketball Championship game Wednesday (March 8) in DeLand, Fla. Tip-off is 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3. 
• The Owls entered the championship as the No. 4 seed and advanced to the semifinals after a 62-60 victory over NJIT Friday (March 3) at the KSU Convocation Center.
• Winners of a school-record 14 straight, Stetson reached the semifinals following a 70-49 win over USC Upstate in DeLand. 
• The Owls have an all-time ASUN Conference Basketball Championship record of 2-7. 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.
• Kennesaw State is attempting to reach its first ASUN Conference Championship final and a date with either Florida Gulf Coast or Jacksonville. The title game is scheduled for Sunday (March 12) at 3 p.m.
• 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 1,360. She is 14 points shy of tying Kristina Wells (1,374) for first place.
• Freshman Carlotta Gianolla currently leads the Owls in scoring (12.0) and rebounding (6.4). She ranks eighth in the ASUN Conference in scoring and fifth in rebounding.
• Highly-respected head coach Agnus Berenato is in her first season leading the Owls' program, and has posted a 454-432 (.512) career record while guiding her teams to 11 postseason appearances (5 NCAA, 6 WNIT) during 30 years as a head coach.
 
OWLS IN ASUN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
The Owls will be playing their 10th ASUN Conference Championship game and are 2-7 all time. Wednesday's contest will mark the third postseason meeting between KSU and Stetson, and the Hatters hold a 3-0 advantage. The two teams last met in tournament in action a year ago in the quarterfinals, and Stetson posted a 74-56 victory.
 
NJIT RECAP
Four players scored in double figures, leading Kennesaw State to a 62-60 victory over NJIT in the quarterfinals of the ASUN Women's Basketball Championship Friday night at the KSU Convocation Center. Kelly Dulkoski knocked down four three-pointers and finished with 12 points, matching Carlotta Gianolla's team-high 12. Allison Johnson scored 10 points and was equaled by Deja McPhee, who established a career high. Clara Young dished out a career-high 10 assists. Kennesaw State survived a flurry in the game's final seconds as NJIT had a look at a go-ahead three-pointer, but Tracey Brereton's attempt rattled out and the ball was whistled out-of-bound to NJIT with 3.7 seconds remaining, and the Owls were able to run out the clock.
 
SCOUTING STETSON
The Hatters, the ASUN Conference regular-season champion, enter Wednesday's semifinal with a 25-5 overall record, including a 13-1 mark in conference play. Stetson has won a program-record 14 consecutive games. The Hatters have four players averaging in double figures, including ASUN Conference Player of the Year Brianti Saunders, who ranks second in the conference with 15.8 points a contest. Stetson is also aided by ASUN Defender of the Year, Sarah Sagerer, who is contributing 10.7 points and league-leading 3.07 blocked shots a game.
 
SERIES VERSUS STETSON
Wednesday's contest marks 28th all-time meeting between Kennesaw State and Stetson, and the Hatters hold a 24-3 lead. Stetson has won 19 in a row dating back to the 2009-10 season. The Owls' last win in the series was a 64-51 victory at Stetson on Feb. 14, 2009.
 
UP NEXT
Following Wednesday's semifinal, the winner will advance in the ASUN Conference Women's Basketball Championship to take on either Florida Gulf Coast or Jacksonville in the championship game on Sunday (March 12).
 
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)

 
 FANTASTIC FRESHMAN
Rookie Carlotta Gianolla is having a memorable first season for the Owls. The ASUN Conference Freshman of the Year currently leads Kennesaw State in scoring with 12.0 points and is attempting to become the third Owl freshman during the KSU Division I era to lead the team in scoring. Rosetta Harris topped KSU with 13.5 points a contest during the 2006-07 season, and Taylor Mills accomplished the feat as a redshirt freshman in 2011-12 after contributing 12.2 points a game. Earlier this season, Gianolla established a KSU single-game Division I freshman record with 29 points versus Jacksonville on February 20.
 
WINNING FORMULA
In their 10 wins this season, the Owls are averaging 71.3 points a game, outscoring their opponents by 10.2 points a contest, and shooting 40.4 percent from the field. KSU has also been dominant on the boards, averaging 42.6 rebounds a game, and outrebounding their opponents by 12.0 rebounds a contest. Deandrea Sawyers has led the way, averaging 16.5 points a contest, while freshman Carlotta Gianolla is averaging 14.1 points and 8.1 rebounds, and Kelly Dulkoski is contributing 10.3 points a game.
 
GIANOLLA, SAWYERS LEAD WAY
Freshman Carlotta Gianolla and senior Deandrea Sawyers have led the way for the Owls over their last 11 games in which KSU has posted an 8-3 record. Gianolla is contributing 15.9 points and 7.5 rebounds a contest while shooting 51.0 percent from field. During that time, she has reached double digits 10 times, recorded four double-doubles and scored 19 or more points on four occasions. Sawyers is contributing 15.1 points and 5.9 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.   
 

Related Videos

Now Playing:

• Play Video