Mason Wittner—Staff Writer
Kennesaw State was unable to mount a second half comeback as they lost at Stetson Thursday 75-64.
Deandrea Sawyers led the Owls (13-6, 2-2) in scoring yet again with 19 points. Kristina Wells contributed a double-double with 15 points and 12 boards.
After starting conference play 2-0 for the first time since 2008-09, the Owls have since dropped back-to-back conference games.
“To lose two games in a row is not unusual, especially in the A-Sun as it’s gotten so much better,” KSU head coach Nitra Perry said. “When a conference has this level of competitiveness in it, you’re going to have two losses in a row. In nonconference, it’s great we played as well as we did on the road. But, the more teams you play the more opportunities teams have to scout you. As you get deeper in the season, you have to keep getting sharper and sharper. I felt like last night we got sharper.”
After a Wells layup to open the game, KSU hit an early dry spell and found themselves down 9-2 with 16:16 left in the first half. The Owls managed to battle back and regain the lead. A three from Kelly Dulkoski put KSU in front 14-13 with 11:01 to play in the first half. Dulkoski finished with 11 points.
In the remaining 11 minutes, the Owls all but fell apart as they shot 1-15 and allowed a 16-2 run by the Hatters (14-4, 3-1) to close out the half. KSU trailed 30-16 at the break.
KSU managed to split their deficit in half as they trailed Stetson 36-29 with 14:07 to play in the game. However, a quick 7-0 run in under two minutes put the Hatters up 43-29 with 12:27 remaining.
After a Stetson layup with 7:07 left, the Hatters mounted a seemingly insurmountable 55-38 lead. Instead of rolling over, KSU continued to fight.
The Owls battled back and found themselves in a competitive ballgame as they trailed 64-57 with 1:30 left to play.
“I thought that we had a terrific second half,” Perry said. “We had a sense of urgency that we played with. When you’re playing on the road against a top team in the conference, who competed last season for the conference championship, you can’t help but stay positive about where we are right now and how we closed that half.”
Jasmine McAllister had 7 of her 9 points in the second half and finished one point shy of what would have been her tenth double-double of the season with 9 points and 10 rebounds.
KSU was unable to complete a 17-point comeback, but the Owls will take the momentum gained from the end of the Stetson game into Fort Myers.
The Owls will travel 200 miles south to take on Florida Gulf Coast (17-2, 4-0) on Saturday to conclude a 3-game road trip.
