Score: Kennesaw State 49, North Florida 66
Records: Kennesaw State (5-10, 1-3), North Florida (8-9, 1-4)
Key Players: Amani Johnson (12 pts, 5 assts, 4 rebs, 3 stls);
Gillian Piccolino (11 pts, 6 rebs, 1 blk)
THE STORYLINE
After a good start from the Owls, North Florida played stingy defense through the remaining three quarters to ensure a 66-49 win for the Ospreys Wednesday night in UNF Arena.
COACH OCTAVIA BLUE QUOTES
"They're a hungry team. They were 0-4 in the conference, so we knew that they were going to come out with a sense of urgency to get a win. I don't think we played a great game today, defensively. They're a great 3-point shooting team with many threats on the floor. We did a poor job of finding shooters, contesting shooters, and making it hard for them."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Gillian Piccolino continued her hot run of play by opening the scoring with a jumper 20 seconds in, starting a quality first quarter from the visitors.
The Owls netted their first trey of the game off of the fingertips of
Amani Johnson, who gave her team a 13-12 advantage midway through the first quarter; this was the start of a 7-0 run for Kennesaw State, and the Owls would be up 17-12 when the whistle rang out.
It was all North Florida in the second quarter, with the Ospreys scoring 22 points over the Owls' six.
Kennesaw State was beginning to pick up steam early in the third quarter, with Piccolino netting two 3-pointers within the span of 33 seconds; however, the Ospreys would answer with a 7-0 stretch.
Head coach
Octavia Blue pushed her team to fight late on, and fight they did. The Owls shot for their game-best 41.7 percent in the fourth quarter, but the Ospreys matched them for baskets and points in the final 10 minutes.
The matchup would finish with North Florida winning 66-49, with the Owls taking a win and a loss out of the state of Florida.
UP NEXT
The Owls end their road trip with a visit to Nashville, Tenn. to take on the Lipscomb Bisons on Saturday, Jan. 22 at 12 p.m. EST.
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.
