Deland, FL - Freshman guard Brittany Carannante (Clearwater, FL) led the Hatters with 14 points as the Stetson women's basketball team (8-20, 6-9 Atlantic Sun) defeated the North Florida Lady Ospreys (13-15, 8-7 Atlantic Sun) 60-45 at the Edmunds Center Thursday night.
The Hatters and Ospreys got out of the gate slow, with the two teams managing to score a combined nine points in the first seven minutes. Both offenses picked up as the two teams played to a tie in the first half with the two teams going into intermission all squared at 26.
The first seven minutes of the second half featured more of the same sluggish starts from both teams. With 12:47 left to play in the game, the teams had managed to muster a whopping six points, with the Hatters leading 32-28. Unlike the first half, however, only the Hatters were able to turn it on in the second half. The Hatters jumped out to 9-0 run over the next three minutes to run their lead to 13. The Ospreys slowly cut the lead to four, after a steal by Jennifer Bowen (Jr.) lead to a layup, which put the score at 45-41 with 4:10 left in regulation. That was the closest North Florida would get, as the Hatters outscored the Ospreys 15-4 the rest of the way.
Carannante led the Hatter surge in the second half, with 13 of her total 16 points coming in the second period. She also played extremely well on the defensive side of the ball, chipping in with four blocks. Ayesha Barkley (Jr.) also was in double figures with 10 points, while grabbing four boards. Sharnesha Smith (Jr.) led all Hatter women with six boards.
The Ospreys were plagued with shooting woes all game, as they shot 28% from the field. Antionette Reames (So.) and Juliemay Syquio led the Ospreys with seven points each. Shennette Sheffield led the Lady Ospreys with 11 boards, while adding six points of her own.
The Hatters will close out the regular season on Saturday, March 1 at 6 p.m against conference foe Jacksonville (21-6, 11-3 Atlantic Sun). The game will precede the men's game, who will also square off against Jacksonville at 8 p.m. Saturday's game will be senior night for the Stetson basketball program, who will be honoring seniors, Kellie Olson, Vlendy Roldan and Jamie Nesbit for the women and J.J. Hirst for the men.
