Women’s basketball huddles around coach Octavia Blue in a game during the 2025-26 season at VyStar Arena. Photo by Jackson Louneoubonh.
Women’s basketball returned to VyStar Arena on Thursday after a winless road trip, losing to Delaware 65-60 in overtime in the first meeting between the two programs.
Both sides came out hot and were tied at nine just three minutes into the game, including six straight combined made field goals. After cooling down, the Blue Hens held a slim 16-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Kennesaw State went on a 6-0 run late in the second quarter to create some separation and take a 28-23 lead, forcing Delaware to burn a quick timeout.
The teams went to the halftime break even at 30-30, despite two 10-point performances in the half by the Owls from Kailyn Fields and Latazia Williamson.
The second half featured more of the same, with the teams matching each other’s point totals in both the third and fourth quarters, bringing the game to a 58-58 tie to begin the overtime period.
KSU only converted one of its nine field goal attempts in the overtime period, resulting in the team’s third straight loss.
Delaware center Ande’a Cherisier was a major factor on Thursday, scoring 16 points and securing 12 rebounds.
“We started off with single coverage, and she was hurting us pretty bad,” Owls coach Octavia Blue said. “But we made the adjustment in the second half by doubling her a little bit, and we took her out for a little bit, but she’s a big factor. They have shooters around her, so they’re a really tough team to cover. I thought we missed a couple of opportunities to trap her, and she punished us for it.”
KSU’s leading scorers were Fields and Williamson, putting up 19 points each. Williamson was coming fresh off another double-figure performance, scoring 20 on the road at Sam Houston.
“I think Latazia’s really turned it on here in conference play,” said Blue. “She plays really hard, and that’s not only in the game. She comes to practice and she brings it. So, if you have that consistency, night in and night out, you are going to perform at a high level during the game.”
Fields saw an astounding 43 minutes of action on Thursday and hit four shots from beyond the arc.
“She hit a couple of shots early, a lot from feeding on the inside to Latazia and then kicking it back out,” Blue said. “Just really hunting her shot within transition.”
Trynce Taylor also had a nice night for the Owls, scoring 14 points, making Thursday’s contest her fourth time out of the last five games posting double figures.
With Thursday’s loss, KSU is now 3-7 in conference play and sits at ninth in the Conference USA standings.
The Owls continue their homestand on Saturday against Liberty, as they hope to get back in the win column after a recent disappointing stretch.
