CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - A cohesive offense and defensive outing led by another career day from
Keyarah Berry saw Kennesaw State women's basketball cruise past the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 64-42, Sunday afternoon inside McKenzie Arena.
A physical, four-quarter performance from the Black and Gold (3-4) upended the Mocs' (4-6) on both sides of the court, including a season-low 16 first-half points from the home team.
Berry recorded her first collegiate double-double behind 17 points and a career-best 15 boards along with
Prencis Harden who posted 18 points and 14 rebounds of her own. Harden moves into sole possession of fourth in KSU DI career double-doubles by forwards with 14. She is fifth on the overall DI leaderboard for KSU.
Right behind the two seniors was another upperclassman,
Keiara Griffin, with 14 points and five rebounds. Junior
Lee Lee Willis tallied a career-high five steals - she also led the team with four assists.
The win comes in the middle of a five-game road trek for Kennesaw State and marks the program's 430th victory in its Division I era.
UTC's 42 points were its fewest in a game since the 2023 NCAA Tournament against Virginia Tech (33) and its fewest in a home regular season contest since Nov. 27, 2019 vs. Northern Colorado (42).
FIRST HALF
The Mocs struck first before Griffin quickly evened the score on the next possession, 2-2. After both teams exchanged baskets, a vicious paint drive from Griffin followed by a trey from
Carly Hooks gave the Owls a 13-10 lead after the first.
Kennesaw State continued the pressure, getting out to a six-point lead, 19-13, with under five minutes remaining in the half. UTC started 1-for-7 from the floor in the second quarter. The Owls kept it rolling and added another bucket off a steal and assist to Berry from
Kailyn Fields to go up 10, 23-13. A pair of Harden layups answered Moc baskets, going back up by 11 - 27-16 - with under two minutes left. A driving layup at the shot-clock buzzer from Berry and a last-second make from Griffin gave KSU a 31-16 advantage at the half.
SECOND HALF
Berry scored the opening points for either side in the second half, giving KSU a 33-16 lead. The Mocs went on a run of their own to cut the Owl advantage to 37-25 at the first media timeout. The two teams continued to exchange baskets but Kennesaw State pulled away further in the third, up by a game-high 23 points heading into the final 10 minutes, 53-30.
The fourth quarter started as a battle of stingy defenses until the first media timeout. In the first four minutes and 15 seconds of the period there was just one made field goal with the Owls holding a 54-32 lead. The two squads would split scores the rest of the way before KSU powered to a 64-42 win. Harden led the team with 10 points and 13 rebounds in the second half alone. Berry had nine points and rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
GAME NOTES
- The Owls held UTC to 11.1% from beyond the arc in the first half, including a 1-for-9 start to the game.
- Berry's 15 rebounds were the most by a Kennesaw State Owl in the Blue Era and the most since Alexis Poole in 2019.
- Harden also moved into ninth on the KSU DI career record book with 494 rebounds.
- KSU is now 3-1 this season when Griffin eclipses 10 points in a game.
HEAD COACH OCTAVIA BLUE POSTGAME
UP NEXT
Kennesaw State heads down to Florida for the first time this season to face Florida Atlantic Friday, Dec. 13 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
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.
