The UNF Women’s Basketball team (1-1-0) bounced back after a early road loss to defeat the Warner Royals (2-4-0) for a 74-38 win in their home opener at the UNF Arena.

Early in the first quarter, Royals’ Sara Poehlman stole the ball from Ty Purifoy, but wasn’t able to capitalize on  the opportunity. The missed layup allowed Ospreys’ transfer Keonna Farmer to pull in the ball. This rebound eventually led the Ospreys to score the first basket of the game.

North Florida continued to roll as they pushed their lead with seven unanswered points.

Warner looked to recover and cut the margin down to one before UNF extended their first half lead once more in front of an energized crowd full of school children.

In the second quarter, the Ospreys added onto their lead over the Royals. By the break, North Florida held a 34-17 lead.

Sophomore Adrienne Jackson described the team’s play early in the matchup. “At first, we were kind of slow,” Jackson said. “So, I kind of took on the role to pick everybody up.”

Jackson stretched the Ospreys to a massive lead in the third quarter with a three-pointer. She finished the afternoon with a team-high 18 points. By the end of the quarter, the Ospreys held a 31-point advantage on their home court.

With the margin of victory expanding, North Florida began the slow the game down in the fourth quarter. During the matchup, the Ospreys held the Royals to single digits in all but the third period.

Unlike their season opener which was plagued with turnovers, North Florida was aggressive and forced Warner to fumble 23 turnovers. Head coach Darrick Gibbs noticed this change in his team’s performance, especially on the defensively front.

“Coming in our second game of the season, we’re still working through and working to get better,” Gibbs said. “I felt like we did some solid things here today. We’ll work on being a little bit more consistent with them as we go through.”

Senior Maiya Rumph knocked down 16 points and pulled in 13 rebounds.  Farmer also had a double-double of her own with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

North Florida will hit the road to face the Morehead State Eagles on Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. in Ellis Johnson Arena.

Gallery • 9 Photos

Photos by Joslyn Simmons

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