CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Kennesaw State (11-18, 7-9 Atlantic Sun Conference) completed its final regular season game as a member of ASUN in thrilling fashion Saturday afternoon, crushing Queens (7-22, 1-15 ASUN), 81-50, inside Curry Arena.
Prencis Harden collected her conference-leading 10th double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds. She was joined in double-point figures with
Carly Hooks (14) and freshman
Trynce Taylor (10). Hooks had five assists Saturday.
Kyndall Golden had four blocks, bringing her season total to 46. She is one away from tying the KSU Division I single-season blocks record.
Queens got in front early and led by as much as five within the first five minutes of the opening quarter before KSU retook the advantage with 2:27 left in the period and didn't look back, tying it securing its largest margin of victory since Dec. 2 vs. Coastal Georgia.
KSU moves to Conference USA on July 1.
STAT OF THE GAME
Kennesaw State's 31-point margin of victory Saturday tied the Owls' largest in ASUN Conference play, matching the mark set in an 81-49 win over USC Upstate on Feb. 4, 2008. It surpassed the largest ASUN margin of victory under head coach
Octavia Blue (23 vs. Stetson - Feb. 25, 2023).
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Harden acquired her eighth game with 20 points or more this season and her 19th game in double figures this season. It was her 10th game with double-digit rebounds. She went to the free throw line nine times, draining eight. She entered Saturday second in the conference in shooting percentage at 42.5%, which she shot 60% against the Royals. She was also third in the ASUN averaging 7.69 rebounds per game.
THE FIRST HALF
Harden collected the first points of either side, giving KSU a 2-0 lead early. Following a 7-0 run from Queens,
Morgan Dillard's and-one play began a 15-0 run for the Black and Gold. In that span, the Owls held the Royals scoreless for over five minutes and forced five turnovers. Golden collected two blocks in the first quarter and the Owls led 19-11 after one.
The Royals scored five of the first seven points of the second quarter before the Owls went on a 10-3 run capped off by a
Sophia Rueppell trey with 3:44 left, 31-19. KSU allowed zero Queens field goals for over three minutes and went into the half with a 36-25 advantage.
Harden led Kennesaw State with nine points and was tied with Dillard for a team-best four boards. Taylor,
Keyarah Berry and Dillard each had two steals. Offensively, the Owls shot 40% from the floor and 38% from beyond the arc, including treys from
Taylor Cullinan and Dillard. The KSU defense forced 13 turnovers that were converted into 16 first-half points.
SECOND HALF
Only 30 seconds into the third quarter was all Harden needed to break into double figures with two made free throws. Cullinan arrived off the bench and made her presence known with a three to give KSU a 47-29 lead with just under six left in the third. Hooks then found 10 points on the afternoon of her own with 5:01 left on a layup. Each of the first four Queens buckets in the third quarter were matched with two made field goals by Kennesaw State, giving KSU a 20-point lead into the fourth, 58-38.
Queens opened the fourth scoring four unanswered points before the KSU defense held them scoreless for over three minutes until the 5:50 mark, 66-42. Harden reached 20 points with 6:55 left in the contest. Golden aquired two more blocks in the fourth to bring her afternoon total to four. Harden achieved her double-double on a defensive board with 3:09 left in the game. A Taylor layup with 1:48 remaining gave the Black and Gold its largest lead of the day at 31, 76-45. Queens only managed five more points, allowing Kennesaw State to earn its 81-50 win following another Rueppell three-pointer.
Harden had 11 points and seven rebounds in the second half while Hooks had a team-best four assists. KSU shot 60.7% from the floor in the final 20 minutes, including 40% from three. The Owls finished the day with 36 points in the paint and out-rebounded Queens, 44-27.
POSTGAME
"Our point of emphasis was to generate offense and transition opportunities with our defense. This afternoon, we played pressure defense like we know we can. Earlier in the season, we saw success in the way we run our press defense and turning people over and we duplicated that today which enabled us to get out in transition and score." - Head coach
Octavia Blue on KSU's 28 points off turnovers.
"Kyndall had a great performance on the defensive end and she finished well around the basket. She was a great force coming in off the bench and has protected the basket all season long. But today, she wasn't allowing anyone in the paint and shut down a lot of layup opportunities for Queens," Blue explained of Golden's outing Saturday.
"It was a great snap-back performance by Prencis. She played very compliment to our offense and her teammates did a great job of finding her and getting her the ball so she could score, and she came through for us," Blue said of Harden's double-double ledger.
"It is very difficult to be able to come off the bench and hit shots. I thought both Taylor and Sophia were shot-ready, they came off the bench, took their first shots and nailed them. And when you're trying to win a championship, you have to have players who come in and provide a spark. I think those two really did that for us tonight," Blue said of the KSU bench.
"We had a comfortable lead at halftime but we know the ability of teams to shoot the three-ball that the lead can be shortened just as quickly so we made a point of emphasis to continue our defensive pressure and be able to score. But shutting them down defensively and holding Queens to 50 points really says something about how committed we were to stopping them and playing well," Blue said of KSU's 45-point second half to surge to victory.
"Moving forward, I mentioned it before: it's always best to be playing your best basketball in March. We snapped a five-game losing streak, that was on our minds and our kids were focused to make sure we went out and got a win today to position ourselves in the tournament. The greatest thing about the tournament is that everyone's record is 0-0, everyone has a clean slate and a shot at winning the championship. We want to use this momentum from today and continue to share the ball like we do," Blue mentioned of using the win as momentum heading into the ASUN tournament next week.
GAME NOTES
- Golden recorded her fourth game this season with four blocks and her first since at Mississippi State on Dec. 11. She is the only player in the Blue Era (since 2021-22) to have four blocks in a game.
- The Owls are now 4-2 when Hooks has five assists or more in a game.
- KSU is 9-1 this season when it has a higher FG% than the opponent and 8-3 with a higher three-point percentage.
- Kennesaw State is now 16-13 on Saturdays under coach Blue.
- It marked KSU's fourth-straight game having three players with 10-or-more points.
- With the win, Kennesaw State swept the season series versus Queens and earned its first road win in the all-time series.
- KSU leads the ASUN with 14 double-doubles this season.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Owls begin their run in the 2024 Atlantic Sun Conference tournament on Friday, March 8 with seeding, opponent and location to-be-determined following the conclusion of Saturday's conference slate.
