DeLand, Fla. -- Brianti Saunders scored 21 points and Breana Bey added 18 as Stetson defeated visiting UNF 81-61 Thursday night at the Edmunds Center.
With the score tied at 36 midway through the third quarter, the Hatters (13-8, 4-3 A-Sun) went on a 26-7 run to break the game open.
"In the first half, (UNF was) just a little too comfortable," Stetson head coach Lynn Bria said. "In the second half, our defense was a lot better. We turned them over a little bit and got some runouts and got some baskets. I thought that was really good for us."
Saunders finished with five rebounds and four assists to go along with her 21 points. She also moved into 10th place on Stetson's all-time scoring list with 1,294 career points.
Despite playing with three fouls, Bey dominated the paint in the second half, going 7-for-8 from the floor (14 points) over the final two quarters. She also grabbed eight rebounds on the night.
"I thought Bey had a great game," Bria said. "In the first half, nothing went well for her. She had some easy buckets and they didn't go in. She kind of hung in there and in the second half, she just kept playing. I was really proud of her, and I thought she got some key rebounds, and she also did a really good job for us defensively."
DeAsia Beal, McKenna Beach, and Aisha Turner each scored nine points, while Myka Johnson-Matthews added eight.
Stetson scored 29 points in the fourth quarter and shot 48 percent for the game. The Hatters held a 46-18 advantage in the paint and outrebounded the Ospreys 37-24.
Hadley Kiefer led UNF (6-16, 2-5) with 19 points and was 6-for-6 from 3-point range. The Ospreys hit 10-of-15 3-point attempts.
With the victory, the Hatters conclude the first half of league play with a 4-3 mark. The second half of the A-Sun round robin schedule starts Saturday as Stetson hosts Jacksonville at 1 p.m.
Notes: The Hatters improved to 8-2 at home and 12-1 when leading at the half ... Brianti Saunders extended her double figures scoring streak to 21 games ... She extended her consecutive free throw streak to 22 straight ... The Hatters hit 11 straight free throws during the second half ... Head coach Lynn Bria won her 297th career game.
