Score: Kennesaw State 54, Jacksonville 47
Records: Kennesaw State (12-13, 8-6), Jacksonville (10-14, 4-10)
Key Players: Jah'Che Whitfield (15 pts, 6 rebs, 3 asts); Carly Hooks (13 pts, 4 rebs, 2 stls, 1 ast); Stacie Jones (4 pts, 6 rebs, 4 stls, 1 blk)
THE STORYLINE
Kennesaw State allowed a season-low 47 points and went on a 29-8 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to overcome a 14-point deficit as the Owls knocked off Jacksonville 54-47 Thursday night at Swisher Gymnasium. KSU's defense locked down the Dolphins in the second half and allowed just 15 points (four in the fourth quarter) over the final 20 minutes of action. Jah'Che Whitfield took over the second half, scoring 12 of her 15 points, hitting two huge threes and Carly Hooks added 13 points to lead the KSU offense.
The Owls have won three straight games and got their first win at Jacksonville since 2012 and the first win in the series since 2019. In another first, Kennesaw State now has two separate three-game winning streaks in ASUN Conference play since the 2007-08 season and the eight wins in conference action are the most since the 2016-17 squad finished with eight.
COACH OCTAVIA BLUE QUOTES
On what it means to win at Jacksonville for the first time in 11 years…
"It means a ton. We kind of talked about the overall record in the series against Jacksonville with it being one-sided. I actually mentioned that to the team. It means something to come here and get a win. I mentioned before, you can't let teams be dominant. I think we are a different team, and we have a different mentality. We came here to prove that tonight."
On the defensive effort in the second half…
"When we were in our man-to-man defense, I thought we were allowing too much penetration and people were getting by us. I thought in the second half we went to the zone, and I think that was a big difference. When we switched to zone in the second half, I think that was the difference in the game. Everybody was communicating, we were moving to the ball, contesting every shot that JU had, and we rebounded the ball well out of the zone. That was the key moment in our defense tonight."
On Jah'Che Whitfield's second half performance…
"It was huge, and I think Jah'Che Whitfield proved what a big-time player she is. I went in at halftime and I challenged her to step up. She didn't have a great first half, she wasn't really scoring for us, and I thought she wasn't as aggressive. But she stepped up to the challenge and hit several big threes in the second half and just really took over the game."
On tonight's performance…
"It was a grind out, gutsy win. I told them that defense was the name of the game and my team stepped up to the challenge and we got the win. So, it was an awesome game overall."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jacksonville knocked down a pair of three-pointers early on to build a 10-5 lead through the first four minutes of action.
KSU answered by scoring nine of the next 11 points to grab the lead, 14-12 after Hooks connected on a triple at the top of the key after some nice ball movement and Stacie Jones hit a tough fadeaway in the paint.
The Dolphins finished the first quarter on a 6-0 run to take an 18-14 lead after 10 minutes.
Prencis Harden and Hooks kicked off the scoring in the opening two minutes of the second quarter as the Owls regained the lead 19-18 after Hooks buried her second triple of the game.
JU scored 14 straight points to go back in front, 32-19 with 40 seconds left in the half.
The Owls cut the deficit to 32-22 at the half as the defense and Harden forced a steal late and found Hooks for the easy layup on the other end.
Hooks led the way for the Owls in the first half, scoring 10 of KSU's 22 points on 4-of-8 shooting and a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
Jacksonville stretched its lead to 14, 39-25, after hitting two three-pointers in the opening three minutes of the third quarter.
Kennesaw State's defense held Jacksonville scoreless for nearly six minutes and Whitfield answered with two triples of her own and the Owls stormed back on a 12-2 run to pull within three, 41-38 with 50 seconds left in the quarter.
After the Dolphins stopped the run with a bucket, Whitfield found Amani Johnson on the back side of the JU defense as Johnson hit her first three of the game to cut the deficit to two, 43-41 into the fourth quarter.
Staying with the hot hand, Kennesaw State continued to run its offense through Whitfield, and she came through once again by another huge three-pointer to give the Owls the lead 44-43 with 9:03 to go.
Kennesaw's defense continued to give the Dolphins all sorts of problems and only allowed four fourth-quarter points. KSU outscored Jacksonville 13-4 in the final quarter as the Owls overcame a 14-point deficit to take down Jacksonville 54-47.
UP NEXT
KSU wraps up its final road game of the regular season at North Florida 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.
