The UNF women’s basketball team was back in action on Saturday as they flocked to the state of Georgia to face conference foe Kennesaw State. The Ospreys entered this game with a chance to continue climbing up the A-Sun standings, while the KSU Owls sought their first conference win. 

Both teams came to fight, which was apparent all the way to the final buzzer.

If one were to watch nothing but the first quarter, they would likely assume that the Ospreys would run away with an easy win. UNF got off to a burning hot start, taking full advantage of early opportunities. 

Threes rained down from the likes of guard Marissa Mackins and forward Erin Jones as the Ospreys jumped out to a commanding 20-7 lead. Despite this, the Owls were able to string together a little run of their own, with UNF taking a 20-12 lead into the second quarter.

The second quarter was less than desirable for UNF, as KSU scrapped their way back into the contest. A layup by UNF guard Rhetta Moore helped stop the bleeding, putting an end to a 7-0 KSU run. This was by no means a disastrous stretch, as the Ospreys were able to secure their lead, going into the half up 34-27. 

The second half of play got off to a scary start for UNF when guard Marissa Mackins took a hard hit off of a screen. She appeared to be okay, returning to the game and continuing to contribute. 

It was a frustrating quarter, with the Ospreys falling victim to some questionable foul calls. Luckily for UNF’s squad, these foul trouble scenarios never came to fruition. 

Going into the final quarter, the Owls only trailed by two points. Despite KSU’s constant jabs, UNF never folded. A three-pointer from freshman guard Ally Knights helped calm down the Ospreys by quelling the foreboding momentum belonging to the Owls. 

KSU began to struggle shooting from the field, but the Ospreys weren’t able to use this to put their opponent away.

The unthinkable happened: Kennesaw State had finally crawled all the way back. A clutch three-pointer from KSU guard Gillian Piccolino knotted the game at 54 points apiece. 

The game would go back and forth, with the gap consistently hovering around one possession. In the closing minutes, UNF’s Rhetta Moore sank a critical three-pointer that turned the tides. Following this, the Ospreys were able to hit their free throws and seal the deal.

It may have been not pleasant at times, but the Ospreys were able to secure a road win against Kennesaw State by a score of 73-63. This propels the Ospreys to 4-1 in conference play. 

The resilience this team showed us is a great sign going forward, but they’ll have to do this all over again on Sunday when they face the Owls for the back end match of this road trip. The game will tip-off at 2 PM and is available to stream on ESPN+. Follow along with Spinnaker for leading coverage of UNF basketball.

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