By: Aury St. Germain
Box Score (PDF)
ATLANTA- The Owls led for all but 25 seconds in Friday's (Dec. 21) throttling over NCCU, 78-54. The contest closed out Kennesaw State's non-conference play of the 2018-19 slate.
It was a slow start for both offenses as both teams played less than 24 hours prior to tip as there were just 10 combined points through the first five minutes of action. The Owls pressed the Eagles and took advantage of NCCU's confusion on offense by forcing three turnovers in a minute span during the opening period and turned a staunch defensive effort into gaudy offense. The KSU offense caught fire in the final minutes of the first quarter as
Breanna Hoover drained two 3-pointers and
Kamiyah Street,
Simina Avram and
Alexis Poole each added four points.Â
The Owls offense cooled off in the second quarter as it went scoreless for 3:02 seconds before Avram scored on a post move to put the Owls up 27-12. The Kennesaw State offense dominated the first half, as it netted 14 field goals compared to North Carolina Central's five and outrebounded the Eagles 21-16. KSU's defense was especially impressive in the first half as NCCU finished the half shooting 20.8 percent from the field in the half and turned the ball over 13 times.
Kennesaw State kept pressing in the second half and opened up a 44-25 lead at the 6:15 mark in the third quarter. In the first five minutes of the quarter, four Owls had scored points. Kennesaw State kept the defensive intensity high as it forced the Eagles into a timeout after a turnover just under five minutes in the frame. The Eagles drained a 3-pointer with 20 seconds in the third quarter to cut the Owl lead to 53-36 heading into the final period.
Hoover knocked down her third 3-pointer of the contest with 7:35 to play in the contest to end a 5-2 Eagle run. The Eagles cut the lead to 18 at 68-50, but the Owls did not let NCCU any closer. Kennesaw State continued to keep unrelenting energy and closed out the game to win, 78-54.
Quotable
"Coach Baker put together an incredible game plan against NCCU. One of the main points of this scout was to pressure them up and force them into turnovers," said associate head coach Khadija Head. "When our kids are clicking and playing hard we can create havoc."
Noteworthy
- Breanna Hoover recorded her second game with three or more 3-point makes
- KSU held NCCU to 20.8 percent in the first half
- The game was the first since Georgia Southern (Nov. 28) in which the Owls ad five double-digit scorers (Avram -15, Gianolla- 15, Street- 13, Johnson- 10, Poole- 10)
- Simina Avram recorded her second double-double of the season
- Every player on the Kennesaw State roster recorded minutes
- Amani Johnson recorded six assists
- First neutral site win of the season
- The Owls collected 48 points in the paint
- KSU shot 72 percent from the free throw line (13-18)
- The bench scored 30 points
- As a team, the Owls grabbed 42 rebounds
Up Next
With this matchup, the Owls close out their non-conference play. KSU will enjoy Christmas break before heading to NJIT on Jan. 5 to begin ASUN play.
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