By: By Al Barba
GAME DAY INFORMATION
Opponent: Georgia Southern
Date: Saturday, Dec. 1
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: KSU Convocation Center
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KSU Notes
GAME DAY STORYLINES
• Kennesaw State (3-5), coming off its most impressive win of the season, returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Macon, Ga. to visit in-state rival Mercer (3-4) at Hawkins Arena beginning at 2 p.m.
• The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at KSUOwls.com. Fans can purchase the ESPN+ digital platform for $4.99 a month or $49.99 for a year's subscription that provides access to all events broadcast on the network.
• Mercer represents the second of five opponents the Owls will play from the state of Georgia. KSU is in the midst of playing four straight games against teams from the Peach State. Meetings at Georgia State (Dec. 13) and Georgia Tech (Dec. 16) remain on the Owls' schedule.
• A win over Mercer will improve Kennesaw State to 3-0 versus in-state opponents following victories over Middle Georgia State (80-70) and Georgia Southern (78-59).
• KSU is looking for its first win over Mercer since a 76-56 home victory on Jan. 6, 2015.
• Rookie guard
Amani Johnson has made an impact early in her collegiate career as she opened the season with back-to-back ASUN Conference Freshman of the Week honors.
• The 2018-19 season marks Kennesaw State's 14th at the Division I level and KSU has posted a 143-245 (.368) record since the 2005-06 season.
• Head coach
Agnus Berenato, who is in her 32nd season as a Division I head coach, is in her third year leading the Owls. She has an all-time record of 464-457 (.504), and guided Kennesaw State to the ASUN Conference semifinals in 2017.
• Kennesaw State has produced the last two ASUN Conference Freshmen of the Year in
Carlotta Gianolla (2017) and
Kamiyah Street (2018). Both players were unanimous picks.
• KSU returns three players who earned ASUN Conference postseason honors following the 2017-18 season. Forward
Carlotta Gianolla garnered all-academic honors, while
Kamiyah Street and
Alexis Poole were named to the all-freshman team. Street also was a second team all-conference selection.
MERCER NOTES
• Mercer is currently 3-4 on the season and is coming off a 67-60 loss at Georgia on Wednesday.
• The Bears have three players scoring in double figures and are led by senior guard Keke Calloway, who tops the club with 19.4 points and 4.7 assists a contest.
• Senior guard Linnea Rosendal (11.0) and senior center Rachel Selph (10.) are also contributing double-figure scoring.
• Mercer completed the 2017-18 season with a 30-3 overall mark, captured the Southern Conference with a 14-0 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
• The Bears tied East Tennessee State atop the Southern Conference's preseason coaches' poll.
• Head coach Susie Gardner is in her ninth season leading the Mercer program and has compiled an overall record of 147-114.
SERIES
• Saturday's match-up will mark the 23rd meeting between Kennesaw State and Mercer, and the Bears lead the series 12-10. Mercer was won three in a row, including a 61-46 victory in 2016.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN RECAP
• A big second quarter sparked Kennesaw State to a 78-59 win over Georgia Southern Wednesday at the KSU Convocation Center.
• Senior center
Simina Avram led a group of five players in double figures as she established career highs with 20 points and 13 rebounds for her first career double-double.
•
Alexis Poole recorded her fifth double-double of the season (12 pts., 12 rebs.), while freshman guard
Amani Johnson registered her first career double-double, equaling a career high with 17 points and totaling a personal-best 11 assists.
• Trailing 18-10 after the first quarter and allowing the first points of the second period to fall behind 20-10, Kennesaw State went on a 17-0 run and outscored Georgia Southern, 24-4 over the next 10 minutes.
• The 19-point win was the Owls' second-largest margin of victory under the
Agnus Berenato era. KSU posted a 96-69 win over Lipscomb to conclude the 2016-17 regular season.
• Kennesaw State shot 54.2 percent (32-for-59) from the field, marking the Owls' highest shooting percentage under Berenato.
BALANCED SCORING
• In posting it highest shooting percentage in the last three years, Kennesaw State had five players -
Simina Avram (20),
Amani Johnson (17),
Alexis Poole (12),
Breanna Hoover (12) and
Kamiyah Street (11) - score in double figures.
• It marked the first time since the season opener versus Middle Georgia State that KSU had five players score 10 or more points.
SHARP SHOOTER
• Senior
Simina Avram went 10-for-11 (90.9) from the field versus Georgia Southern to set the KSU NCAA Division I single-game field goal percentage mark.
• The previous field-goal percentage record was 84.6 percent set by Britteny Henderson at Campbell on Feb. 11, 2008.
BLOCK PARTY
•
Simina Avram set a career-high with six blocked shots versus Georgia Southern and fell one block shy of the KSU NCAA Division I single-game record of seven established by
Jasmine McAllister versus Jacksonville on March 16, 2015.
JOHNSON EARNS BACK-TO-BACK HONORS
• Guard
Amani Johnson earned back-to-back ASUN Conference Freshman of the Week honors to open the season as she was honored Nov. 12 and Nov. 19.
STREET, JOHNSON HONORED BY ASUN
• The Owls' backcourt tandem of
Kamiyah Street and
Amani Johnson were honored by the ASUN Conference following the opening week of the season, earning Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week recognition, respectively.
• Street averaged 24.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 4.0 steals a contest. She connected on 49.1 percent of her field goal attempts, including 35.7 percent from behind the 3-point arc.
• Johnson averaged 6.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 3.7 steals a contest.
STREET SETS KSU SCORING RECORD
• Sophomore guard
Kamiyah Street etched her name atop the Kennesaw State record book after scoring a program-record 41 points at Seton Hall on Nov. 10.
• Street went 14-for-23 from the field, including 4-for-7 from behind the 3-point arc. She also added four rebounds, an assist and three steals against the Pirates.
• The Atlanta, Ga. native broke the previous record of 40 points set by Joanna Cuprys vs. UNC Pembroke on Jan. 25, 1997.
• Street eclipsed the prior NCAA Division I record of 36 points set by Gia Lockett versus Georgia Southern on Dec. 15, 2008.
OWLS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
• Sophomore forward
Alexis Poole is tied for fifth in the nation with five double-doubles.
• Sophomore guard
Kamiyah Street is tied for fifth in the country in minutes played (294), 28th in minutes per game (36.75) and tied for 11th in steals (23).
• Freshman guard
Amani Johnson is tied for fifth in the country in minutes played (294) and is ninth nationally among freshmen with 5.1 assists per game.
KSU IN ASUN RANKINGS
• Freshman
Amani Johnson ranks second in the ASUN Conference in assists (41) and assists per game (5.1). She tops the conference with 36.9 minutes per game, is second in steals (17) and third in steals per game (2.1).
• Sophomore guard
Kamiyah Street tops the ASUN in made field goals (51) and is second in points per game (16.4), steals per game (3.4) and minutes per game (36.8).
• Sophomore forward
Alexis Poole leads the ASUN with five double-doubles and free throws made (29), and is second in rebounds per game (9.0).
SEEING DOUBLE
• Sophomore
Alexis Poole has 11 double-doubles in 34 career games.
POOLE MOVES INTO TOP 10
•
Alexis Poole has 27 career blocked shots to rank 10th on the KSU NCAA Division I top 10 list.
STREET ENTERS TOP 10
• Sophomore
Kamiyah Street, who holds the KSU NCAA Division I career scoring average record of 17.1 points a game, is 10th on the career steals list with 90.
ICEIS WALKER IN THE TOP 10
• Senior guard
Iceis Walker has appeared in 90 career games and ranks seventh on KSU's NCAA Division I games played list.
OWLS WELCOME NEW FACES
• KSU has added four newcomers to its roster and welcomes the services of redshirt senior
Simina Avram, who sat out last year after transferring from Georgia Tech.
• The Owls have added freshmen guards
Amani Johnson (North Versailles, Pa.),
Kate Head (Brisbane, Australia), and
Peyton Lewis (Hampton, Ga.), along with junior college transfer
Erica Moore (Lizella, Ga.).
JOHNSON HIGHLIGHTS NEWCOMERS
• Freshman guard
Amani Johnson (North Versailles, Pa.) headlines the list of newcomers after a standout prep career at East Allegheny HS.
• Johnson capped her brilliant career by earning 2017-18 WBCA Honorable Mention All-American honors and being tabbed a Pennsylvania Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year finalist.
• A four-sport athlete (basketball, softball, soccer, volleyball), Johnson concluded her basketball career with 2,345 points, 533 assists, 496 rebounds and 353 steals.
• Johnson averaged 26.7 points, 6.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.9 steals as a senior.
A LOOK AT THE ROSTER
• Kennesaw State enters the 2018-19 season with a roster comprised of three seniors (
Simina Avram,
Janae Omusi,
Iceis Walker), three juniors (
Carlotta Gianolla,
Alexandra Landby,
Erica Moore), four sophomores (
Breanna Hoover,
Lexi Mann,
Alexis Poole,
Kamiyah Street) and three freshmen (
Kate Head,
Amani Johnson,
Peyton Lewis).
THIRD TIME A CHARM
This season marks the third for head coach
Agnus Berenato, and 11 of the 13 players on the roster were recruited by Berenato and her staff. Senior
Iceis Walker and redshirt junior
Alexandra Landby were with the program when Berenato arrived in March of 2016.
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
• Sophomores
Alexis Poole and
Kamiyah Street were named to the ASUN Preseason All-Conference team.
2017-18 POSTSEASON HONORS
• Kennesaw State had four players earn postseason honors following the 2017-18 season.
•
Kamiyah Street was unanimously selected as ASUN Conference Freshman of the Year. She also garnered second team all-conference honors and was named to the all-freshman team along with
Alexis Poole.
•
Carlotta Gianolla and senior
Clara Young were selected to the ASUN's All-Academic team.
2018-19 ASUN PRESEASON POLL
• Following a seventh-place finish a year ago, the Owls were selected fifth in the ASUN Conference preseason poll following a vote of the league's coaches. Defending champion FGCU was picked to repeat after receiving eight first-place votes and 80 points. Newcomer Liberty earned the other first-place vote and totaled 71 points to finish second.
ASUN ADDS TWO NEW TEAMS
• The nine-team ASUN Conference has a new look in 2018-19 with the addition of Liberty and North Alabama, and the departure of USC Upstate.
PITT STOP
• Head coach
Agnus Berenato, who spent 10 years leading the University of Pittsburgh program, has used her knowledge of the western Pennsylvania area in her recruiting efforts.
• In each of the last two years, Berenato has signed a recruit from the Pittsburgh area as
Breanna Hoover (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Blackhawk HS) and
Amani Johnson (North Versailles, Pa. / East Allegheny HS) have signed on to play for the Owls.
• Berenato again used those connections to sign shooting guard Gillian Piccolino (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Keystone Oaks HS) and center Gabriella Legister (Bridgeville, Pa. / Chartiers Valley HS) during the November signing period.
DAZZLING DEBUT
• Guard
Kamiyah Street had a freshman debut for the record books in 2017-18.
• Street led all ASUN freshmen in points (16.3), assists (3.2), steals (2.4) and free throw percentage (69.9). Her 16.3 points per game are a KSU Division I single-season record.
• The Atlanta, Ga. native ranked fourth in the country among freshmen in scoring average, fifth in steals per game and third in minutes per game (37.4).
• Street earned ASUN Freshman of the Week honors six times and garnered conference Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week accolades.
UP NEXT
• The Owls will take a week off for finals before returning to action Dec. 13 when they travel to Georgia State.
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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