By Mason Wittner, Staff Writer
Senior Kristina Wells ended her final regular season at Kennesaw State on a high note as she recorded a double-double en route to the Owls’ 75-57 thrashing of Lipscomb on Senior Day Saturday.
The win marks the most wins for KSU (17-12, 6-8) ever in a single season in the Division I era.
The Owls will travel to Jacksonville to take on the Dolphins in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship Friday.
“It means a lot just to see that it’s possible,” Wells said of surpassing the record. “We didn’t give up. It makes Kennesaw look better than what we have before, so it helps with recruitment. It’s just about the bigger picture.”
Wells, who finished with 11 points, 15 rebounds, was one of four players with notable accolades in the win over the Bisons (8-20, 3-11) Saturday. Junior Jasmine McAllister and sophomore Aareon Smith each registered double-doubles. McAllister scored 15 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. Smith contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Freshman Kelly Dulkoski led all scorers with a career high 19-point performance.
“Aaeron has been playing better and better each day,” KSU head coach Nitra Perry said. “In her effort, she’s grown. She’s exactly where you want a sophomore to be. Kelly Dulkoski, we’ve just been waiting for her to do what she does in practice every day. We all knew she had it in her. I felt like they played for each other today, and that’s what we talk about all the time. They laid it out there for their seniors.”
The win was never in question for the Owls, but rather the margin of victory.
KSU’s smallest advantage in the second half came with 11:13 left to play as Lipscomb cut their deficit to 55-42.
The Owls won the opening tip and jumped out to a 7-2 lead over Lipscomb with 17:15 to go in the first half. The Bisons pulled within one possession as they trailed 13-11 at the 11:08 mark.
KSU caught fire with 18 unanswered points, ultimately outscoring Lipscomb 21-2 and taking a 34-13 lead with 3:35 remaining in the opening half.
The Owls took a 44-27 lead into the locker room, a significant difference from the nine-point deficit the Owls faced at halftime in the first contest, Jan. 27, as they ultimately lost 79-61.
“It’s maturity,” Perry said of the key difference between games. “I think it was our first conference game on the road, and we just weren’t quite understanding what you needed to do to win on the road in conference. At this point, we’ve figured out that we need to play for the full forty minutes. To see us at this point against Lipscomb, where we started and finished a game, with their runs, spoke volumes about their maturity level.”
