The Kennesaw State women’s basketball team was defeated by the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 71-68 on Jan. 27.
After losing the last three games against JSU, the Owls came into the game looking to hand ASUN‘s top-ranked women’s team their fourth road loss of the season. Despite KSU holding the largest lead of the game with six points, the Gamecocks fought back in the second half to win the game by three.
“We played hard; we played smart; we played together,” Coach Octavia Blue said. “Overall, I’m happy from the performance. We’ll learn from this.”
The 13th meeting between the two schools saw a total of nine ties and 18 lead changes. The Owls saw their last lead at the 2:30 mark of the fourth quarter, but the Gamecocks would score five straight points to overtake the Owls and eventually secure a victory.
Sophomore Bre’Lyn Snipes led all scorers with a career-high 14 points. Both Jah’Che Whitfield and Alexis Poole contributed 10 points and Amani Johnson added eight points. Despite the offensive production, turnovers plagued the Owls throughout the matchup. KSU gave the ball away 19 times, which lead to 21 points the other way.
Ten of their 19 turnovers came in the first half of play, leading to nine points for JSU. The Owls however did win the rebounding battle in the first half, helping them go to halftime with the lead.
The women struggled out of the break, giving JSU a two-point lead late in the game. The lead was quickly cut back down to just one point. However, a missed free throw that could have tied the game would turn out to be a critical error, allowing the Gamecocks to run the clock out and make a last-minute basket to seal the three-point victory.
The Owls fall to 6-12 on the season and 2-5 in the ASUN Eastern Division. The Owls will return to the Convocation Center once more before heading out to Richmond, Kentucky to face Eastern Kentucky.
