A second-quarter burst propelled the College of Charleston for a 73-69 victory over the UNF women’s basketball team Dec. 15 at the UNF Arena.

While the Cougars scored the first basket, the Ospreys responded with a quick run over the visiting team in the early minutes of the opening quarter. At the end of the first quarter, North Florida held a 21-11 lead.

When the clock shifted to the second quarter, the Cougars went from missing their shots from behind the arc to knocking down buckets. They also succeeded in slowing down the pace. Charleston created an offensive burst midway through the second quarter, and North Florida had no answer as the opposing team snatched away the lead.

The Cougars continued to pile onto their lead and headed into the halftime with a 37-29 advantage over the home team.  

“I thought we got off to a solid start, but obviously didn’t sustain it,” UNF women’s basketball head coach Darrick Gibbs said.  “Think the second and third quarter shooting percentage wise we were five for twenty-five in those two quarters, and that was the difference in the game.”

After the break, the Ospreys came out with defensive adjustments and began to chip away at the lead. Unlike the first half where guard Shiclasia Brown slipped past the defense and drove in the paint,  North Florida contained her forced turnovers. This lead to an offensive boost for the home team.

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Photo by Lili Weinstein

“Brown really did a great job in the first half breaking us down, and really creating a lot for her team,” Gibbs said.

There were moments where both teams felt the heat as two technicals were called in the second half.  

Keonna Farmer, who received a technical foul, felt she should have received calls on back-to-back plays. This lead to an outburst of frustration late in the final quarter. Farmer finished the night with 16 points.

“It was just the moment in the game,” Farmer said.

In the fourth quarter, the Ospreys brought the score within two points after Adrienne Jackson’s three-pointer. Seconds later, College of Charleston answered with baskets of their own and iced the game with free throws.

“They made more plays than we did,” Gibbs said. “Whether it was them scoring on their end and us not getting a defensive stop, or us coming down and not getting a shot that we wanted or missing it.”

The Cougars dominated with 40 points compared to the Ospreys 20. North Florida had a slight edge in second-chance points with 22 while Charleston had 14.

Four Cougars players finished with double digits. Their guard Darian Huff had a team-high of 15 points. She knocked in three’s from downtown to keep the momentum and help Charleston’s lead grow.

From the field, UNF shot 34.5 percent while the visiting team knocked in 43.5 percent. Both squads connected six from behind the arc and had 39 rebounds apiece.

Tesh Hanson had a game-high of 17 points and hit crucial free throws down the stretch to bring the gap closer to empty trips earlier in the game.

“I wished I made all my free throws,” Hanson said.” We needed it in our stretch, and we were close throughout the whole game and do whatever I could to help the team.”

The women’s basketball team will continue their time at home for their Holiday Classic. They will face Northern Kentucky on Dec.19 at 2 p.m. for their first game of the two-day Holiday Classic. Admission is free.

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