By: Michael Pitts
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Head coach
Octavia Blue and 2025 All-Conference USA First Team selection
Prencis Harden lead Kennesaw State women's basketball into its first CUSA tournament Tuesday as the No. 7 seed against No. 10 UTEP.
Coming off wins in five of the last seven games inside the KSU Convocation Center with an 8-6 record on the home court, the Owls won seven games in their first season in Conference USA. Kennesaw State swept its season series with UTEP, winning the two games by an average 13 points.
Harden earned All-Conference USA First Team honors Monday afternoon after an impressive 2024-25 regular season on the court. Click
here for more info on her award. She scored 39 points in the Owls' last game against UTEP on Feb. 20 where she surpassed 1,000 career points.
Tip-off of the Owls' first round meeting with the Miners is set for 3:00 p.m. ET. A victory Tuesday would advance Kennesaw State to face No. 2 Middle Tennessee on Wednesday, March 12.
First Round Matchup Information
Matchup: No. 7 Kennesaw State (12-17, 7-11 CUSA) vs. No. 10 UTEP (11-18, 4-14 CUSA)
Date: Tuesday, March 11
Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
Location: Huntsville, Ala.
Arena: Propst Arena
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KSU Game Notes
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Quarterfinals Matchup Information
Matchup: No. 7 Kennesaw State (13-17, 7-11 CUSA) vs. No. 2 Middle Tennessee (24-7, 16-2 CUSA)
Date: Wednesday, March 12
Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
Location: Huntsville, Ala.
Arena: Propst Arena
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KSU Game Notes
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(More matchup information will be added as the Owls advance through the tournament)
Notes to Know
- Kennesaw State has won four of its last seven games.
- Harden has accounted for 30.8% of the Owls' defensive rebounds, the most in CUSA and 10th in Division I. This number is the most by a CUSA player since Rice's Jessica Kuster in 2013-14 (36.4%).
- Harden is one double-double and 27 points from setting the new KSU DI single-season record in those categories.
- KSU (18) and Harden (15) lead CUSA in double-doubles.
- Kennesaw State's three-point defense (27.8%) is 37th in the nation and third in CUSA.
- Senior Carly Hooks is fifth in CUSA in assists per game (3.4) and assist/turnover ratio (1.04).
The Regular Season Recap
Kennesaw State completed a 5-6 non-conference season to close out 2024 headlined by a comeback victory at Georgia State. The Owls also captured two road wins at Chattanooga (Dec. 8) and Seattle (Dec. 16), where KSU held SU to its fewest points in a non-conference home game (41) since Dec. 1, 2004.
KSU started its first Conference USA schedule with two tough opponents in the first three games in MTSU (Jan. 9) and Western Kentucky (Jan. 11) but stayed in both contests for all four quarters. The Owls picked up their first CUSA win Jan. 16 in a road overtime win at Sam Houston and won two of the next three games for a 3-4 start to conference play. In February, the Black and Gold defeated Louisiana Tech, UTEP and FIU and closed out the regular season with a hard-fought home loss to Liberty (71-69 on March 1) and a victory over Jax State (March 8).
Kennesaw State closed out the season with wins in four of its last seven games.
This is Her Legacy
Prencis Harden is all over the record book for her KSU career and this 2024-25 campaign. The five-time CUSA Player of the Week is third for rebounding average in KSU DI single-season history (10.4) and the second-best scoring average (15.9). On Feb. 20 at UTEP, she eclipsed 1,000 career points - all scored in an Owl uniform.
Entering Saturday's game, she is at the current spots in the KSU record book (all single-season marks are from 2024-25):
- Single-season defensive rebounds: 219 (1st)
- Single-season double-doubles: 15 (T-1st)
- Single-season scoring average 15.7 (2nd)
- Single-season rebound average: 10.2 (3rd)
- Career double-doubles: 26 (3rd)
- Single-season rebounds; 297 (4th)
- Career rebounds: 731 (4th)
- Career defensive rebounds: 495 (4th)
- Career offensive rebounds: 236 (4th)
Stellar Seniors
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.
Stay updated with the action on the court for KSU women's basketball on X @KSUOwlsWBB, Instagram at @KSUOwlsWBB and on Facebook here.
