Kennesaw, Ga. ? In their last regular season game, the Hatters rallied throughout the game but were unsuccessful in a 72-61 loss to Kennesaw State on Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
The Hatters were led by senior Janene Maclin (Chicago, Ill.) with a season-high 19 points on 7-12 shooting, including a perfect 5-5 from the line. Junior Kellie Olson (Tucson, Ariz.) tallied 16 points and sophomore Ayesha Barkley (East Orange, N.J.) recorded a career best 15 points.
Kennesaw State jumped out to a 15-3 lead in the first five minutes of the contest before the Hatters went on an 8-0 run to cut the early 12 point Owl lead to four. With 11:39 remaining in the half, sophomore Sharnesha Smith (Kingsland, Ga.) put the ball up from three point territory on an assist by senior Kim Manning (Daytona Beach, Fla.) to bring the Hatters within three. The Owls stepped up their offense and with 4:28 left in the first half Kennesaw was able to gain a 13 point lead on the Hatters. The Hatters chipped away the Owls 13 point lead with the strong offensive efforts of Barkley and Olson. With one second left in the half Barkley put the Hatters within three on a tough lay-up. The Owls went into the locker room with a 37-34 advantage over Stetson.
In first half the Hatters were lead by junior Kellie Olson with 11 points, going 6-7 from the charity strip and 1-3 from beyond the arc, while senior Janene Maclin added 10 points and sophomore Ayesha Barkley followed with nine.
Coming into the second half the Hatters started strong with an 8-3 run. Stetson tied the game at 40 with 17:32 remaining, but the Owls were about to begin a run of their own, going up by 10 with 11 minutes left in the contest.
The Owls got a boost from freshman Gia Lockett, who tallied 12 points in the second half to expand the lead to as much as 11. With time winding down, the Hatters fouled to slow the clock. In the last minute of the game Kennesaw State went 10-11 from the charity strip to take a 72-61 victory.
Up next the Hatters travel to Dothan, Alabama for the Atlantic Sun Tournament, March 8-11.
