Jacksonville, Fla. ? The Hatters came out to a hot start only to cool down at the end in a conference loss, 75-61, to the University of North Florida Saturday afternoon in Jacksonville.
The Hatters were once again plagued by turnovers, both forced and unforced. In the first half the Hatters had 13 turnovers allowing the Lady Ospreys to take the lead and score 18 of their 35 first half points off of turnovers. North Florida took a 15 point lead with under five minutes remaining in the first half. The Hatters would close the gap on free throws by sophomore Shayna Swinson (Atlanta, Ga.) and freshman Ashli Jackson (Opelika, Ala.). The Lady Osprey went into the locker room with an 11 point lead, 35-24.
The Hatters were led in the first half by sophomore Sharnesha Smith (Kingsland, Ga.) with 10 points. The Lady Ospreys were led by Tamara Hubbard with nine.
The second half the Lady Ospreys jumped out to their largest lead of the game, going up by 16, on a bucket by Willonda Windham. The Hatters were able to rally to within three with nine minutes remaining, on a three pointer by freshman Stacia Shepherd (Carmel, Ind.). The Lady Ospreys would extend the lead back 10 before the Hatters turned up the heat and came as close as five points with four minutes remaining. But that would be the closest the Hatters would come again. The Hatters fouled to slow the clock allowing the Lady Ospreys to get easy shots at the charity stripe. The Lady Ospreys pushed the lead up to 14 with a pair of free throws by Denisia Andrews. That would end the game, with the Lady Ospreys taking the conference victory over the Hatters, 75-61.
Stetson was lead by the aggressive play of senior Janene Maclin (Chicago, Ill.) with 16 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Sharnesha Smith followed with 15 points, while senior Kim Manning (Daytona Beach, Fla.) contributed seven assists.
The Lady Ospreys were led by Tamara Hubbard with a game-high 21 points and Jennifer Bowen with 19.
Next up the Hatters will be back home at Edmunds Center to take on conference opponent Mercer, Sunday, February 4 at 2:00 pm. The game will televised live on CSS.
