Video by Jas Chung

Women’s basketball (4-3) overpowered Bethune-Cookman University(3-2) in overtime for 70-63 victory at UNF Arena.  

North Florida got things going with a 6-0 run to force Bethune Cookman to call a timeout. UNF held a 10-6 lead at that point. Out of the break, the Wildcats came up empty, while the Ospreys pushed its lead to 15-8 to end the quarter.

In the second quarter, the Ospreys outscored the Wildcats and headed into the locker room up 28-15.

Head coach Darrick Gibbs described his team’s first half play as one of the best performances seen this season.

“We executed well, our defense was unbelievable ,we took them out of a lot things there was trying to get done,” Gibbs said.  

When the game resumed, North Florida continued its momentum, but were constantly trading buckets with the Bethune Cookman.

The Wildcats got back in the game thanks to a 22-5 run that stretched from the third quarter to 4:17 left in the game to give UNF a slim 53-50 lead.

Two free throws later, Bethune Cookman tied the score at 56 and sent the game into overtime.

Gibbs addressed the fourth quarter shift with allowed the Wildcats come back into the picture.

“We kind of relaxed and it bit us in the butt. More so just in our intensity, they amped it up a little bit, they were the most aggressive team,” Gibbs said.

Keonna Farmer, who provided offensive power during the night also felt the change in intensity in the last quarter of regulation. The redshirt senior pointed out that players stepped going down the stretch.

“Good players make play and we came through and made plays,” Farmer said.  

With five minutes set on the clock, the Ospreys shifted the momentum back to their advantage with hot overtime start.

Tesh Hanson sparked a 9-0 Ospreys’ run and helped carry the team to pull out the victory.  

Hanson’s mindset going into the overtime play was to finish out strong and earn a win when the clock hit zero. She recalled last year to losing the game by a possession and didn’t want to experience that again against the same opponent a year later.

Throughout the game, both teams struggled with turnovers and missed scoring opportunities. UNF finished with a 47.4 completion rate from the field while BCU shot at 40.3 percent.

North Florida committed 24 turnovers compared to Bethune Cookman’s 21.

Three Ospreys players finished in double digits with Keonna Farmer leading with 25 points. Hanson closed out the night with 12 while freshman teammate Tiffany Tolbert had 10 points.

Women’s basketball hit the road to play Florida Atlantic University Dec.3 at 2 p.m.

Gallery • 15 Photos

Gallery by Jill