By: Matteen Zibanejadrad
Kennesaw State (5-12), (1-5)
vs. North Alabama (7-11), (2-4)
Location: Kennesaw, Ga. | Convocation Center
Date: Saturday, Jan. 29
Time: 2 p.m. EST
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Game Notes
The Kennesaw State women's basketball team ends their two-game stay in the Convocation Center with a Saturday afternoon battle against the ASUN West Division's North Alabama Lions.
The game will be marked by a halftime celebration of the former members of the women's basketball team in honor of KSU Alumni Day.
Among those in attendance will be the longest-tenured head coach in the program's history, Colby Tilley. In Tilley's time at the helm of the Owls, he won two Peach Belt Conference titles, earned three berths into the Division II National Championship and took Kennesaw State as far as the D-II Elite Eight.
Kennesaw State's last game resulted in a heartbreaking 71-68 loss to ASUN West Division leaders Jacksonville State, a matchup that the Owls led for 27:21.
BRILLIANT BREE
Sophomore guard
Bre'Lyn Snipes made a tremendous return to the KSU lineup against JSU, after being sidelined since the Jan. 8 Liberty game.
In her 27 minutes of play, the Columbus, Ga. native led the Owls in scoring as she tied her career high with 14 points; Snipes also added four rebounds to her stat line.
Snipes' long frame was also a welcome return to the play of
Octavia Blue's squad, as Snipes has a reputation as one of the best perimeter defenders in black and gold.
CEMENTING A LEGACY
Kennesaw State phenom
Alexis Poole edges ever closer to writing her name atop the list of the Owls' highest-scoring players in Division I history.
After her 10-point performance against the Gamecocks, the senior is now 39 points away from topping the previously-held record of 1,380 by Deandrea Sawyers.
With 10 games left in the KSU campaign, Poole will need to average 3.9 points per game to overcome the hurdle; she currently averages 11.4 per game this season.
SCOUTING NORTH ALABAMA
The Lions sit at the bottom of the ASUN rankings for turnover margin, averaging three more turnovers than their opponents per game. Head coach
Octavia Blue may look to exploit this weakness, given that forcing turnovers has been the strongest aspect of her team.
Julia Strachan, a grad transfer from Division II's Adelphi University, leads the North Alabama offense with 12.8 points per game. A majority of the Massachusetts native's points come from the perimeter, with 3-point shots making up 77 percent of her field-goal attempts. Strachan's accuracy from beyond the arc places her among the elite 3-point shooters in the conference, sitting at second place for 3-point field-goal percentage at 43.1 percent.
Freshman Skyler Gill has made a splash in her first year in the ASUN, using her five-foot-11 frame to rack up 7.8 boards per game. The third-most prolific rebounder in the league, Gill is also a proficient scorer and has notched three double-doubles on the season so far.
NEXT GAME
The Owls hit the road once again, heading to ASUN newcomer Eastern Kentucky for the first contest between the two teams in the programs' history. Tipoff is on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 5 p.m.
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.
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