The Ospreys earned their second conference win with an impressive performance on both sides of the court. 

In the first quarter, it took three to make a thing go right as Senior Arianna Emanuel-Wright, Junior Adrienne Jackson, and Redshirt-Junior Jazz Bond had back-to-back-to-back threes to start the game. With that hot start, the Ospreys went on an 11-0 run and took control of the game.With four minutes left in the first quarter, the Ospreys were up, 14-8. The team nailed 10 of their 26 shots (including long and short range). At the end of the first quarter, the Ospreys were up, 27-10. Bond and Emanuel-Wright scored eight points apiece.

The Ospreys continued to distance themselves from the Hatters as they maintained a lead of at least 15 for a good chunk of the second quarter. The post players for UNF were dominating on the defensive end as they out-rebounded the Hatters,13-8. At halftime, the Ospreys led, 38-22. Bond was the sharpshooter for the Ospreys as she scored 12 points including a couple of three balls.

The lead opened up to 21 on a three by Bond with five minutes left in third quarter as the Ospreys later finished with a 57-37 lead. Emanuel-Wright and Jackson had combined for 22 points at that point in the game.

The Hatters pulled within 15 in the fourth quarter on a jumper by Sophomore Day’Neshia Banks as the Hatters trailed, 66-51. Ultimately, the Ospreys brought home the win with a final score of 71-55.

Bond finished the game with 17 points and grabbed 11 boards (her first double-double of career).  For the Hatters, Senior McKenna Beach led the team with 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Bond talked to Spinnaker about the team’s flow on the defensive side throughout the game.

“I feel when we kept getting stops on defense, it helped our offense flow, too,” Bond said.

Emanuel-Wright added 17 points for the Ospreys which is now her sixth-straight game of scoring in double-digits. The Senior Jacksonville native described the energy behind the team’s 11-0 run early in the game.

“It was energy from the start and just watching the ball go in from different players, it really brought us energy and made us want to play defensively even more, it was very exciting,” Emanuel-Wright said.

Coach Darrick Gibbs elaborated on the team’s impressive shooting against the Hatters.

“We shot the ball really well.Obviously that opened up the floor a little more for us to open up some opportunities. Hopefully it’s a trend that continues as we move through the season, if we’re shooting the three ball like that, it’s going to make us really hard to guard,” Gibbs said.

With this win, the Ospreys improve to 7-8 (2-2 ASUN) and the loss drops the Hatters to 7-10 (2-1 ASUN).

The Ospreys head north to Lynchburg as they take on Liberty on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 2 p.m.

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