Score: Kennesaw State 66, North Alabama 69
Records: Kennesaw State (9-10, 5-3), North Alabama (8-11, 3-5)
Key Players: Amani Johnson (17 pts, 3 rebs, 3 asts); Jah'Che Whitfield (11 pts, 6 rebs, 5 asts, 4 stls, 1 blk); Stacie Jones (10 pts, 8 rebs, 1 stl)
THE STORYLINE
Kennesaw State fell 69-66 to North Alabama in overtime Thursday night at the KSU Convocation Center. Despite the narrow loss, the Owls are still off to their best start in ASUN Conference play since the 2016-17 season with a 5-3 record. KSU gained control of the game early, dominating the Lions on the glass in the first half 26-8 and 13-3 on the offensive end. After North Alabama went on a run late, the Owls, trailing by five in the final 50 seconds, used a furious rally as Amani Johnson hit a clutch three-pointer and Stacie Jones tied the game at 62-62 to send the game to overtime. The Lions outscored KSU 7-4 in overtime to hold off Kennesaw State. Johnson finished with a team-high 17 points, while Jah'Che Whitfield added 11 points, six rebounds five assists, four steals and a block. Jones chipped in 10 points and eight boards to lead the KSU offense.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Whitfield attacked the paint and the ASUN's leading shot blocker, Skyler Gill early, drawing two early fouls on the UNA forward and completing a three-point play in the opening minutes of action.
The Lions hit a transition triple to grab a 5-4 lead, but Jones answered on the other end with a nice move in the paint for an easy layup to take back the lead.
Kennesaw State scored six straight points, highlighted by four quick points from Keyarah Berry and a tough finish in the paint by Prencis Harden to extend the lead to seven, 12-5 with 4:15 left in the first quarter.
The Owls closed out the quarter with an 18-10 lead as the defense pressured North Alabama into six turnovers and just 4-of-12 (33 percent) from the floor and 2-for-9 from beyond the arc.
KSU continued to ramp up the defensive intensity in the second quarter, holding UNA scoreless through the first five minutes to build a 16-point lead, 26-10.
The Lions ended their scoring drought with four three-pointers over a two-minute span to pull within eight, 30-23 with 1:20 left in the half.
The Owls finished the half on an 8-3 run, including a step-back triple from Johnson as time expired the Owls went into the break with a 38-26 lead.
Kennesaw State dominated the glass in the first half outrebounding UNA 26-8 and 13-3 on the offensive end.
North Alabama went on an 11-2 run over the first six minutes of the third quarter to cut into KSU's lead, 40-37.
Johnson capped off a 7-2 stretch for KSU with a tough three-point play at the rim to extend its lead back to eight, 47-39.
Jones connected on back-to-back layups early in the fourth to put the Owls up double-figures, 55-45, with 7:59 remaining. The Lions answered with 15 straight points to retake the lead, 60-55 with 2:11 remaining in the game.
Carly Hooks raced down the court and connected on a transition layup to cut the deficit to 60-57 but North Alabama answered on the other end to go back up five, 62-57, with 53 seconds to go.
Coming off a screen, Johnson knocked down a huge triple after receiving the pass from Whitfield to make it 62-60 with 37.3 seconds left. The KSU defense forced a turnover on the following possession and Jones converted with the game-tying layup, 62-62 with 23.6 seconds on the clock.
The KSU defense came up huge in the final 20 seconds and kept the Lions off the scoreboard to send the game into overtime.
Both teams traded baskets over the first three minutes until Gill completed a three-point play for the Lions to go up 67-64. After KSU grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds, Hooks banked in a running layup to make it 67-66 with 1:26 remaining in overtime.
Gill put the Lions up three with a mid-range jumper, 69-66 with 10.8 seconds left. Johnson attempted the game-tying triple with 4 seconds left but just missed right as UNA got the defensive rebound and held off the Owls for the 69-66 win.
UP NEXT
KSU takes on Central Arkansas at the KSU Convocation Center Saturday at 2 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.
