SEATTLE, Wash. - A stellar outing from Prencis Harden combined with a 28-point third quarter lifted Kennesaw State to victory over Seattle University inside the Redhawk Center Monday night, 64-41.

The Owls (4-5) outlasted a defensive first half before erupting out of the halftime locker room on both sides of the court to gain separation that proved to be the difference against the Redhawks (2-9) in KSU's second and final game of the 2024 Conference USA/WAC Challenge.

Harden, who earned CUSA Player of the Week earlier in the day for her double-double performance at FAU Friday night, recorded her third-straight double-double with 13 rebounds and a season-high 22 points (10-for-17). She was followed by Keiara Griffin who scored all eight of her points in that resurgent third quarter, making four of her five shots on the evening.

Sophomore Kailyn Fields led the Owls with five assists for the second time this season - she is the only Owl in 2024-25 to reach that mark in a game. KSU improved to 4-1 when Fields reaches that total.

The Owls held Seattle to its fewest points in a regular season non-conference home game since Dec. 1, 2004. Monday's game marked the furthest KSU women's basketball had traveled round-trip to in the program's Division I history (est. 4,862 miles).

KSU kept the turnovers at a minimum, tallying only eight against a Redhawk team that entered the night averaging 19 takeaways per game this season.


FIRST HALF
Seattle broke through after over two minutes of scoreless action between the two squads with a jumper. Taylor Cullinan sank the first field goal for KSU to even the game at two. A bucket from Harden gave the Owls their first lead of the day, 4-2, almost three minutes into the game. Her second jumper put the Owls up by four before Seattle answered with a trey to cut the game to 6-5 by the first media timeout. SU took a 7-6 lead via free throws and after scores from Fields and Morgan Dillard, the teams were tied at 10 apiece after the first quarter.

Carly Hooks sank a triple for the first points of the second quarter to retake the lead for Kennesaw State, 13-10. A trey from Fields followed by another Harden bucket pushed a 7-0 run over three minutes to get the Owls up 20-12 at the media timeout. KSU held the Redhawks scoreless for 4:33 with three forced turnovers in that span to take a 10-point lead, 22-12. The Owl offense rattled off a 12-2 run for over five minutes in the second quarter. KSU led 27-16 at the half.

Harden led the Owls with nine points and six rebounds followed by Berry who had six points and five boards. 16 points were the second-fewest from Seattle in a first half this season (Nov. 4 at Washington) and the fewest in a home game since at least 2017.

SECOND HALF
Griffin secured the first six points of the second half to further extend KSU's lead, 33-16. Hooks and Lee Lee Willis answered the first Redhawk points of the quarter with jumpers of their own to make it 37-18. The two teams exchanged points before a 41-23 score at the media timeout. Harden reached 20 points with two-and-a-half minutes left on a jumper to make it 50-27. Sophia Rueppell entered off the bench to drain a three to extend the advantage to 24, 53-29. The Black and Gold rolled into the fourth quarter with a 55-29 lead.

SU scored the first points of a defensive-heavy fourth period. Only four baskets were made in the first five minutes of the quarter. The Redhawks hit a trey to cut their deficit to 20, 58-38, with under four left in the game. Willis led the Owls in the low-scoring fourth with four points to help KSU seal the 64-41 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Nine of the 11 Owls who stepped on to the court Monday had multiple rebounds.
• Five Owls had multiple assists against the Redhawks and 10 attributed to KSU's 64 points.
• KSU held SU to 3-for-12 from the floor in the first quarter.
• KSU's 17 assists were its most in a road game since Dec. 15, 2022 at Furman.
• Harden now has 16 double-doubles in her career, fifth in KSU DI history and fourth among forwards.
• Harden also tied Carlotta Gianolla for sixth in KSU DI history with 197 career free throws made.
• She also moved into eighth for both rebounds (520) and defensive rebounds (340) in the Owls' DI era.
• Hooks moved into ninth in the same record book in career assists (162).

HEAD COACH OCTAVIA BLUE POSTGAME
"I emphasized how we needed to pick up our defensive intensity, that's who we are as a team. We can't rely on our offense to get us started in games and we have to dictate how we start with our defense and that's what gets our offense going. It was a matter of us picking up our defensive intensity and playing in our presses hard so we can scramble them up and create fastbreak opportunities and I think that we just turned that up in the second half and you were able to see us pull away," - on the Owls' surge in the third quarter that led to the victory.

"It's super important. We talk about it everyday: not one single person is going to get it done for us. Any time we can fill the stat sheet with a variety of people scoring six-to-eight points, usually it's a good game for us. Obviously Prencis with another double-double, that's just what she does every single game but everyone needs to equally contribute and we see what the outcome could be," on the Owls' 17 assists and Harden's third-straight double-double.

"If there was one word to describe her, she's just been solid. I think she's been consistent and we know what we can count on from her. She's a low-post threat, shoots at a high percentage, very efficient around the rim so we pick our spots and she's established herself as a go-to low-post presence for us," - on Griffin's emergence in the Kennesaw State rotation.

"It feels amazing to be coming back home. This was a tough stretch for us and throughout it, we learned a lot about ourselves. I'm proud of the maturity that our players displayed and how they handled themselves through this five-game stretch and all of the miles that we've traveled. To end it with a win in this fashion makes me very proud. We have big-time opponents at home to close out the year during the holidays but we're excited to be back in the Convo in front of our fans and to be able to play against in-state rivals Georgia State and Mercer," - on a lengthy five-game road stretch and coming back home to close out the non-conference schedule.

UP NEXT
The Owls return to the KSU Convocation Center Thursday, Dec. 19 at 7:00 p.m. to face in-state foe Georgia State. Fans can purchase tickets here.

KSU students receive free admission to all home KSU women's basketball games this season. Read Full Article