By Mason Wittner, Staff Writer
Turnovers plagued Kennesaw State in the second half as they blew a second-half lead in their loss to Stetson 70-58 Saturday.
The Owls (16-11, 5-7) turned the ball over 20 times, resulting directly to 18 points for the Hatters (20-6, 9-3).
KSU lead 37-33 at the first media timeout of the second half with 17:11 left to play. The Hatters displayed a renewed energy coming out of the timeout, sparking a 13-0 run to take a 46-37 lead at the 12:18 mark.
KSU trailed 52-47 with 6:41 left to play in the second half before Stetson pieced together a 16-5 run to take a commanding 68-52 lead with 1:38 to go.
Kristina Wells recorded her second-straight double-double, her sixth of the season, as she scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Sophomore Aareon Smith tied Wells in scoring with 14 points. Junior Jasmine McAllister and redshirt-freshman Katie Hunt contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively.
“The turnovers aren’t bad when they’re forced,” KSU head coach Nitra Perry said. “If somebody is pressing you and they’re getting on you, and they get a tip on the ball, then that’s understandable. But when we’re on a fast break and we just throw it away, those are the ones that you want to get back. I felt like we had 7-10 of those that were unforced turnovers that we literally did to ourselves.”
The Owls dominated the boards for a fifth-straight game, outrebounding Stetson 44-35.
“We talk about rebound being about effort,” Perry said. “I think the epitome of that was Kristina Wells having 13 rebounds, 5 offensive boards. She just would not lay down today, and I think that’s what a senior looks like so I was extremely proud of her and the rest of the team rebounding the ball.”
The Owls started hot and held a 15-7 advantage with 12:07 remaining in the opening half. KSU used an 8-3 run to extend their lead to 23-10 at the 8:29 mark.
Stetson used a full-court press and opportunistic offense to climb back into the game. After 10 straight points, the Hatters closed their deficit down to one possession, trailing 23-20 with 5:03 to go in the first half.
A Stetson three tied the game for the first time of the day with 30 seconds remaining in the half, but Deandrea Sawyers answered with a three of her own to give the Owls a 32-29 lead at halftime.
“There were a lot of positives in that game,” Perry said. “I thought our first half, our first 15 minutes, were really good. In the second half we were still up for a lot of that. I just think defensively we did not hold it down. They had some timely threes late.”
Stetson allowed the Owls to hang around, leading 50-45 with 9:22 left in the second half, but KSU failed to complete a comeback and regain their lead.
Kennesaw State will look to pick up their 17th win, which would be the most in the program’s Division I history, as they travel to Highland Heights, Kentucky to take on Northern Kentucky Wednesday.
