Despite a disappointing 61-47 loss to Mercer Feb. 18, the UNF women’s basketball team has safely secured a spot in the 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference tournament because of its win against Florida Gulf Coast last weekend.
“Today was a huge defensive effort for us,” said UNF head women’s basketball coach Mary Tappmeyer after the game against FGCU Feb. 13. “They really bought into the defensive scheme. The team knew that we had to guard the arc. We made three consecutive stops in the end, which was huge for us, and we were also able to make our shots down the stretch. I think that we had them on their heels tonight.
“I am so proud of the effort and I’m so glad to see that our seniors got to beat Florida Gulf Coast.”
Senior center Shennette Sheffield tied a career-high record with five blocks against FGCU, including one that helped secure a win for the Ospreys with four seconds left in the game. But it was freshman forward Jadhken Kerr who led her team with a total number of 14 points in the game.
Kerr scored five out of six shots from the field and four out of five from behind the arc. Junior guard Juliemay Syquio also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 1o rebounds against the Eagles. She was one assist away from a triple-double.
As a team, the Ospreys shot 51.1 percent from the field and a high 60 percent from the 3-point line, out ranking FGCU’s 20.6 percent from behind the arc. These high percentages helped bring a win for the Ospreys, which improved their record to 9-16 overall and 6-10 in A-Sun play, while FGCU’s record fell to 20-5 and 15-2 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
UNF held the lead for the entire game with early leads in both the first and second halves of the game. FGCU was able to cut the Ospreys’ lead back to single digits with just under five minutes left in the first half, but UNF went on a 7-0 run to take a nine-point lead before the end of the half.
The Eagles made another attempt in the second half and cut UNF’s lead down to two, but the block from Sheffield kept them from adding more points to the FGCU’s scoreboard.
As the Ospreys competed against Mercer University, however, they were no match against the Bears’ early 10-point lead 13 minutes into the match. UNF was able to cut their lead down to six with just over two minutes left in the first half, but Mercer retaliated by going on a 5-1 run to take a 10-point lead before half time.
UNF came back in the second half with a 7-0 run, holding Mercer scoreless for the first four minutes to bring the lead down to three points. The Ospreys were able Mercer’s lead in the single digits for the next six minutes, but the Bears regained a 10-point lead with 11 minute left the game and kept a high score to obtain the 61-47 win.
Even with the loss, Syquio still scored a game-high 14 points with five rebounds and eight assists. Sophomore guard Margaret Bell also reached a career-high 10 points, while both she and senior forward Arlande Cherizol had six rebounds each.
The Ospreys will remain in Georgia for their next game against Kennesaw State, Saturday, Feb. 20 at noon.
