By: Michael Pitts
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Kennesaw State women's basketball opens its first conference slate as a member of Conference USA against familiar foe Jacksonville State Saturday afternoon.
The old Atlantic Sun Conference foes square off as head coach
Octavia Blue and a veteran squad headlined by senior
Prencis Harden lead the Black and Gold into this new era.
KSU enters Saturday having won two of its last three games and three of its last five. Kennesaw State's last road game came on Dec. 16 in a 64-41 win at Seattle.
Harden set new career-bests in points (34), rebounds (15) and blocks (4) for her sixth double-double on the season and 17th in her career. She earned back-to-back CUSA Player of the Week honors during the non-conference slate (Dec. 16 and Dec. 23).
Game Information
Matchup: Kennesaw State Owls (5-6, 0-0 CUSA) at Jacksonville State (6-5, 0-0 CUSA)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 4
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Jacksonville, Ala.
Arena: Pete Mathews Coliseum
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Live Stats
KSU Game Notes
Notes to Know
- Prencis Harden is in the top 10 of nine Conference USA statistical categories this season.
- Harden's 17 double-doubles are fifth in Kennesaw State DI program history. Her 543 rebounds are ninth in KSU DI career history.
- Kennesaw State's 59.0 scoring defense is third in the conference and 83rd in the country.
- KSU leads CUSA in double-doubles (6) and three-point defense (24.4%).
- The Owls' three-point defensive mark is also 13th in the country.
Series History
Saturday will mark the 25th all-time meeting between the Owls and Gamecocks. JSU holds a slim 13-11 advantage but Kennesaw State has taken each of the last three games.
In the last time out, KSU eliminated Jax State from the 2023 ASUN Conference tournament in Lynchburg, Va., 82-73.
KSU is 3-1 against Jax State under head coach
Octavia Blue. The first meeting between the two came on Dec. 1, 1990. The Owls' first victory in the series came on Nov. 23, 1991.
A Look at the First Half
KSU women's basketball's five non-conference wins were its most in a single season since the 2020-21 campaign and the most wins for the team entering Jan. 1 of a season since 2019-20. The Owls earned key victories at Chattanooga on Dec. 8 and at home against in-state foe Georgia State on Dec. 19.
Keyarah Berry earned the program's first Conference USA Player of the Week honor and was followed by
Prencis Harden almost a month later - who earned back-to-back honors.
Harden finished the non-conference schedule averaging one-tenths of a point shy of a double-double (17.0 PPG, 9.9 RPG). She had six double-doubles in the Owls' 11 games and led CUSA entering the conference schedule.
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).
Inside the Roster
Captains for 2024-25 include graduate guard
Carly Hooks and senior forward
Prencis Harden. Blue's fourth season at the helm sees nine returners on a roster loaded with experience in addition to four 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 six seniors/graduates on the team this season, the second-most in Conference USA.
Three of the four newcomers transferred in to KSU during the offseason with a combined 264 games played and 142 starts. 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 nine home showdowns remain featuring key CUSA games against MTSU (Jan. 9), Liberty (March 1) and Jax State (March 8).
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.
