After a hot start, the Ospreys were flying high until the second half when the Rattlers snaked their way within two but UNF ultimately prevailed.

The Ospreys got out to an early lead in the game with a key three pointer from Senior Arianna Emanuel-Wright’s three point dagger to put the Ospreys on the board. The Ospreys were active on defense throughout the half, taking advantage of the Rattler’s miscues. At the end of the first quarter, the Ospreys led, 17-6.

The Ospreys spread the ball out well, forcing the Rattlers to chase and leave the wings open to attack the rim or space out and hit a three. At the end of the first half, the Ospreys were up, 32-19.

The Rattlers came out energized in the second half forcing turnovers and nailing long range shots, pulling within two points to the Ospreys.

Coach Darrick Gibbs talked to Spinnaker about how the Ospreys responded to the Rattler’s start to the second half.

“The messages in the huddle were the same. We have to play a certain way in order to have success and I don’t feel we were consistently doing that and so we were trying to turn that corner to play the way we need to play. We responded well when they made their runs and that’s exciting being able to hold them off and get the win,” Gibbs said.

After a timeout, the Ospreys added in some triples and were up, 46-37 at the end of third quarter.  

In the fourth quarter, the Ospreys were hitting 46 percent from the field and shut the door on the Rattlers, winning, 64-53.

“I’m excited that we got a win. I don’t feel we played exceptionally well but anytime we get an opportunity to win a ballgame and have some learning stuff involved, I think that’s a positive,” Gibbs said.

Junior  Dasha Eremeeva had a strong post presence, collecting six rebounds while putting up nine points.

“She’s been solid for us in all three of the games we’ve played this season. She’s going to add a dimension to our team that we definitely need, an interior presence,” Gibbs said.

Emanuel-Wright finished the game with 12 points and led the team with 10 rebounds.

“In my head, I just wanted to make sure that we kept the energy and on offense wise, we were getting a lot of quick shots in that second half and I think that was hurting us as well,”Emanuel-Wright said. “We definitely needed to get it in the paint more through penetration and pitches and ball reversals because that was going to help us and we weren’t really executing that and that’s why they were coming back.”

Sophomore Tiffany Tolbert led the team in scoring with 13 points and Junior Adrienne Jackson added 11 points for the Ospreys.

The Ospreys head to Bloomington to play Indiana on Sunday, November 18 at 2 p.m.

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