By: Michael Pitts
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Kennesaw State women's basketball pushes ahead in the middle of a five-game road trip to square off against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Mocs Sunday inside McKenzie Arena.
The Black and Gold enter the contest with the second-highest three-point defense in Conference USA after forcing the ACC's Clemson Tigers to start 1-for-13 from beyond the arc last weekend. The Owls are holding opponents to just 8-for-49 (16.3%) from three inside the friendly confines of the KSU Convocation Center.
KSU enters the matchup after going toe-to-toe with the Tigers Sunday afternoon where the Owls led for over 21 minutes. Senior
Keyarah Berry leads the team averaging 17.0 points per game.
2024-25 marks Kennesaw State's new era as a member of CUSA.
Game Information
Matchup: Kennesaw State Owls (2-4; 0-0 CUSA) at Chattanooga Mocs (4-5, 0-0 SoCON)
Date: Sunday, December 8
Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
Location: Chattanooga, Tenn.
Arena: McKenzie Arena
ESPN+ | PxP: Todd Agne |
Analyst: Heath Thacker
Live Stats
Game Notes
Notes to Know
- Berry is averaging 13.7 points and 4.8 rebounds in her last 14 games played dating back to 2023-24.
- Prencis Harden is averaging 12.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game this season. She has two double-doubles.
- Three Owls (Berry, Harden and Carly Hooks) are averaging at least 10 points a game this season.
- Harden's 13 double-doubles are tied for fifth in Kennesaw State DI program history. Her 480 rebounds are 10th in KSU DI career history.
- KSU is averaging 23.7 bench points per game - fourth in CUSA and 90th in the nation.
- The Owls' 15.2 free throws made per game are second in CUSA and 31st in the nation.
- On Nov. 18, Berry became the first Owl to earn Conference USA Player of the Week.
Series History
Sunday marks the seventh contest in program history between the Owls and Mocs. UTC has won each of the last two and holds a 4-2 series advantage. This weekend's matchup is the fourth under head coach
Octavia Blue.
A win Sunday for the Black and Gold will mark the first road win at UTC in program history.
Setting the Standard
KSU women's basketball comes off a season of achievements from its final year in the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2023-24. On Dec. 2 against Coastal Georgia, the Owls posted their fewest points allowed in a single game at 25. An 85-75 win over Bellarmine (Feb. 8) was the second-most points scored by KSU in a road DI conference win and most since Feb. 18, 2006.
The team achieved its most weekly ASUN honors since the 2014-15 campaign and the second-most weekly DI conference freshman honors in program history.
Head coach
Octavia Blue became the fastest KSU WBB head coach to 30 Division I wins and 20 DI home wins while leading the Owls to their best conference start in DI history (4-0). KSU also marked its longest DI conference regular-season win streak of six games.
Kennesaw State led the conference in double-doubles behind
Prencis Harden, who led the ASUN with 10 a season ago. KSU also paced the league in offensive rebounds per game and offensive rebound percentage. The Owls also allowed just 33.6 defensive rebounds per game, the best mark in program history, beating the mark of 34.4 set in 2003-04.
Executive Producers
Kennesaw State begins the new year returning 88.67% of its point production from last season, the second-most in CUSA behind former ASUN foe Liberty by just .05% (88.72%). KSU also returns 74.1% of its minutes-accounted-for, the third-most in CUSA behind Liberty (85.2%) and New Mexico State (77.5%).
KSU's nine returners are tied with NMSU and Liberty for the CUSA lead. The Black and Gold also bring back five student-athletes who accrued at least 10 starts last season - the second-most in the conference behind the Aggies (6).
Carly 1K
Hooks currently has with 1,077 career points, the sixth-most among active women's basketball student-athletes in Conference USA. She surpassed 1,000 career points on the road last season at North Florida (Feb. 24). The grad led the ASUN last season with three games of 30+ points with all coming on the road. She enters 2024-25 on a five-game streak of 10+ points and has scored at least 14 in each of her last three.
Inside the Roster
Captains for 2024-25 include graduate guard
Carly Hooks, senior forward
Prencis Harden and, new to the team this season, senior guard
Kionna Gaines. Blue's fourth season at the helm sees nine returners on a roster loaded with experience in addition to five newcomers with just one true freshman.
Hooks and Harden join an impressive batch of returners that include
Keyarah Berry,
Morgan Dillard,
Kailyn Fields,
Lee Lee Willis,
Taylor Cullinan and
Sophia Rueppell.
Kennesaw State has seven seniors/graduates on the team this season, the second-most in Conference USA.
Four of the five newcomers transferred in to KSU during the offseason with a combined 264 games played and 142 starts. Graduate forward Keiara Grffin comes from CUSA rival Jax State while Gaines enters with three seasons of experience at Clemson and Auburn. A 2024 Academic All-American, Gaby Bendeck-Giron, transfers in averaging 14.4 points per game last season at Pensacola State while
Claire Davis joins the Black and Gold from Palm Beach Atlantic with eight games of 10+ points in 2023-24. True freshman and 6'6" center
Mame Kane comes from Dakar, Senegal, as the first KSU Division I women's basketball student-athlete from the country.
Pack the Convocation Center
Season and single-game tickets are available for Kennesaw State women's basketball's first season as a member of Conference USA! A total of 14 home showdowns, including in-state clashes with Georgia State (Dec. 19) and Mercer (Dec. 30), as well as key CUSA games against MTSU (Jan. 9), Liberty (March 1) and Jax State (March 8) set the stage for an exciting season.
Click
here for more information. Admission is free for Kennesaw State University students to all 2024-25 home women's basketball games.
Stay updated with the action on the court for KSU women's basketball on X @KSUOwlsWBB, Instagram at @KSUOwlsWBB and on Facebook here.
