After trailing through the majority of the game, the Ospreys turned on the jets just in time to defeat Kennesaw State to move up in the ASUN standings.

Ospreys scored first four points of game until Junior Carlotta Gianolla answered with a layup inside to get the Owls on the board. Sophomore Kamiyah Street tied it up for the Owls at four on a fancy finish to the basket. As the first quarter went on, the teams traded blows as the momentum was even on both sides. The Owls led 10-8 at the first media timeout with 2:28 left as both teams had struggles shooting from the field as they shot under 30 percent. The Owls finished the first quarter with a 16-12 lead as both teams had not made a three-pointer throughout the first full ten minutes.

Senior Ty Purifoy started the second quarter with a bang as she nailed the first three-pointer of the game, putting the Ospreys within one, 16-15 Owls. The Ospreys grabbed a 17-16 lead after Junior Janesha Green knocked down two free throws. Street was heating up in the second quarter as she made five-straight-points and fed a dish to Sophomore Lexi Mann on the very next possession to extend the Owls’ lead to 25-19. Midway through the second quarter, the Owls grabbed a 30-19 lead after Gianolla made two free throws.  The Ospreys’ shots wouldn’t fall as they were 2-16 from the field. At the end of the second quarter, the Owls led, 30-23. Senior Arianna Emanuel-Wright led the Ospreys with 10 points and  Street led the Owls with 11 points.

The Ospreys remained within seven for the first half of the third quarter as the Owls continued to hit their shots and executed on free throws. The Owls lead was cut to five after a mid-range jumper from Emanuel-Wright late in the third quarter as they only trailed, 44-39. The Ospreys continued chipping away as they trailed, 49-43 at the end of the third quarter. The Ospreys improved their shooting to 61 percent from the field.

The Ospreys climbed to within four early in the fourth quarter on two free throws made by Junior Adrienne Jackson, 49-45 Owls. A mid-range shot from Junior Dasha Eremeeva tied the game at 49 as the momentum started to shift. The Ospreys began an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter as the Owls were on their heels, trailing 53-49. The Ospreys stretched their lead to 56-50 on a layup by Emanuel-Wright. The Owls crept up to only be down 56-53 on a three by Street in the left corner. The game continued to be a scoring spree as Freshman Amani Johnson of the Owls nailed a three and Jackson later countered with a three of her own to increase the Ospreys lead to 61-56. The Owls crawled within two on the Street layup and Emanuel-Wright followed with one of her own as an equalizer. Redshirt-Sophomore Jazz Bond nailed a key three to put the Ospreys up 68-63 with less than a minute left in the game. The Ospreys added some insurance points with free throws to set them up for a 74-66 win.

UNF Women’s Basketball Head Coach Darrick Gibbs talked to Spinnaker about the key to their comeback victory.

“I think it was our resilience overall and staying together. I thought our communication on the defensive side of the ball was really good but they (Kennesaw State) were getting second and third opportunities with offensive rebounding and we adjusted there,” Gibbs said.

Emanuel-Wright led the team with 21 points and talked to the Spinnaker on what led to the momentum shift in the fourth quarter.

“Defense, it was definitely defense and communicating off of drives and supporting each other. That fueled our offense to get inside,” Emanuel-Wright said.

Bond finished the game with 19 points and collected seven rebounds.

For the Owls, Street had a standout performance by scoring 29 points and grabbed nine boards.

With the win, the Ospreys improve to 10-12 (5-6 ASUN) and hop up to fifth place in the ASUN surpassing JU. The Owls are now 6-17 (2-8 ASUN).

The Ospreys head north to take on NJIT on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 1 p.m.

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