Kamiyah Street led the way as the Kennesaw State women’s basketball team lost to North Florida 74-66 before beating Lipscomb 67-36, while Tyler Hooker continued to shine as the men fell to the Ospreys 80-57 and the Bisons 83-67.
Street scored 29 points in the opening game for the women at North Florida on Tuesday, Feb. 12. Nearly earning a double-double, Street secured nine rebounds and had an efficient night on the floor, making 54.5 percent of her shots.
The Owls led for most of the game, up 49-43 at the end of three quarters. A poor night from the bench and an uncharacteristic performance by Alexis Poole allowed the Ospreys to come back.
Poole, who is accustomed to scoring with ease, only mustered six points while fellow starter Amani Johnson had just five points. A double-double by junior Carlotta Gianolla was not enough to sustain the lead for KSU as the Owls have yet to win an away game.
On Wednesday, Bobby Parker hit five three-point shots for the men’s team and Hooker added 14 points in a loss to the Ospreys.
During their 12th away loss of the season, KSU had few chances to stay in the game as freshman Ugo Obineke was the only other player besides Parker and Hooker to contribute significant points, with 13.
Despite beating North Florida at home just weeks ago, the Owls fell behind early and were unable to come back due to the lack of consistency all around. Junior Bryson Lockley contributed nine rebounds and five assists with seven points.
On Saturday, the women’s team beat Limbscomb by 31 points, setting a team record for a margin of victory against a conference opponent.
Street had another productive performance, totaling 25 points while coming up with seven steals. Johnson played well, improving from her midweek game with a 16-point effort, including four three-point shots.
Gianolla had another 10-point game, having found consistency in the past several games. The Owls had one of their best defensive nights of the season, holding the Bisons to single-digits in three quarters and under a 23 percent shooting mark.
Despite an 83-67 loss to Lipscomb for the men’s team, Hooker led with 23 points and joined the program’s 1,000 point club.
The Owls took a 7-2 lead early on, and both teams continued trading buckets until a foul by Hooker sparked a 6-0 run for Lipscomb.
From that point on, the Bisons took the lead for the remaining of the half and led the Owls 33-29 heading into halftime.
The Bisons found momentum right from the start of the second half with back-to-back three-pointers, taking a 42-31 lead.
Just seconds later, KSU seemed to have stolen momentum and trimmed the lead back to single digits. Lewis missed a short jumper and Isaac Mbuyamba missed a layup, which was punished by Lipscomb, who extended their lead to 51-37 with 13:30 to play.
Lipscomb held a double-digit lead the rest of the game, taking its largest lead of the game 74-55 in the final minutes.
Hooker finished with 23 points, five rebounds and two steals, bringing his season total to 26 games in double figures. He now sits at 1,002 career points.
Parker and Danny Lewis also scored in double-digit figures while Mbuyamba contributed with 10 rebounds.
The women’s team will travel to play North Alabama on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. while the men play on Thursday at 7 p.m. Both teams play Florida Gulf Coast at home on Saturday, with the women’s game at 11 a.m. and the men’s game at 7 p.m.
