Thursday, Feb. 4
7:30 p.m. EST – Kennesaw State (5-7, 1-7) vs. Young Harris (2-3, 2-3)
Links: ESPN+ | Live Stats
Location: The Convocation Center | Kennesaw, Ga.
Game Notes: KSU
TOP STORYLINES
» The Kennesaw State women's basketball team returns to the Convocation Center to take on the Young Harris College Mountain Lions on Thursday evening. The meeting will be the first ever between the two teams, with Young Harris competing in the Peach Belt Conference in NCAA's Division II.
» KSU will look to recapture the winning form that won the team's first ASUN win on Jan. 24 after dropping two games in Louisville, Ky. against Bellarmine University. Both contests came down to the wire, with the Owls losing by only two points on Sunday. Team co-captain Breanna Hoover came back on Saturday's game after dealing with an injury that kept her out of the two-game series against North Florida. The senior impressed, scoring nine points and grabbing a season-high nine rebounds; Hoover also had two assists and two steals in her comeback.
» The Owls' forwards had two more impressive displays against the Knights last weekend, with Stacie Jones and Gabi Legister the only two players to average double digits besides Amani Johnson. Legister also earned her fourth double-double in Sunday's defeat, scoring 15 points and snatching 11 boards. The sophomore is a top-five rebounder in the league with Jones right behind her in sixth place. KSU's No. 25 averages 7.5 rebounds per game and her 1.3 blocks per game is the fifth-best rate in the ASUN. The six-foot-two forward is the best offensive rebounder in the conference, a statistic that is very important to the program's success.
» Kennesaw State finds itself eleventh among offensive rebounding teams in NCAA's Division I, producing offensive boards at a rate of 16.8 per game. The Owls' aggressiveness on offensive boards is a fundamental part of the KSU game, with many of their points scored coming through second-chance opportunities.
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
The close game on Sunday against Bellarmine was Amani Johnson's seventh-straight game leading the Owls in scoring; the junior averaged 18.5 points per game in the series against the Knights. Johnson's scoring display last weekend pulled her scoring rate into eighth place among KSU scorers.
The guard was only one rebound and three assists away from a triple-double on Sunday afternoon.
The Pennsylvania native is the reigning queen of assists and steals in the ASUN Conference, dishing 5.8 dimes per game and seizing 2.2 steals per game.
The Owls' co-captain sits on 324 assists in her time as a Kennesaw State player, only six away from surpassing former player Kristina Wells as the best playmaker in program history.
FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME
For the fifth time this season, the Owls will face off against a non-conference team; Kennesaw State is undefeated in the previous four games, all coming against first-time opponents.
KSU started off its season against Martin Methodist College on Dec. 16, a game which they won 86-60. The team set their highest point tally less than a week later, when the Owls won 97-67 against Life University.
Kennesaw State's last non-ASUN game came against Berry College, with the Owls putting on a defensive display in an 86-36 win. The victory against the Vikings was the Owls' biggest of the season. All of the team's non-conference games have come on home turf.
UP NEXT
The Owls are slated to travel to Fort Myers, Fla. to take on Florida Gulf Coast University, one of two undefeated teams in ASUN play this season. The two-game series will be played on Feb. 13 and 14 at 2 p.m. EST, with KSU scheduled for a bye week this weekend.
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State women's basketball news, follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlsWBB or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.
