JACKSONVILLE, FL—North Florida shot 60 percent from the field and used a 23-7 fourth quarter push, en route to a 72-49 victory over visiting NJIT in A-Sun women's basketball action at UNF Arena Monday evening.

UNF (3-10 A-Sun, 7-21) had four players score in double-figures, led by junior guard Claire Ioannidis and sophomore guard Sierra Shepherd with 16 points apiece.  Junior forward Karrah Johnson scored a new personal-best 15 points while Kadesia Johnson added 14 points.

In addition to Shepherd's 16 points, she dished out a game-high six assists, pulled down five bounds and added two steals.  Maiya Rumph led the game on the glass with nine rebounds, as the Ospreys outrebounded the Highlanders, 30-to-17.

The Ospreys finished the game shooting 60 percent from the field (27-for-45) and 50 percent from beyond the arc (10-for-20).

NJIT (1-12 A-Sun, 4-24) got 12 points, five rebounds and four assists from junior point guard Alana Dudley.  Dudley finished 5-for-9 from the field.  The junior has 88 assists on the season, which ranks fourth all-time at NJIT in the Division I era (first season 2006-07) and has at least one assist in 26 of NJIT's 27 games. 

Alana's sister, Olivia Dudley was NJIT's other double-digit scorer with 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers, and four assists.  Freshman Kelly Guarino and Tatianna Torres added eight points for NJIT.  The eight points for Torres is a new personal-best. 

Guarino moves into third all-time in the Division I era at NJIT with 61 three-point baskets made.   The record stands at 77 by Denisa Domiterova (2011-12).

In the first half, the game seesawed back-and-forth, with eight lead changes and four ties.  The score heading into halftime was knotted at 31, after a layup by Alana Dudley with 37 seconds remaining.

Both teams shot well in the first half, with the Highlanders holding the upper hand, 58.3 percent from the field and North Florida at 44.4 percent.

To start the third period, Guarino and Olivia Dudley connected on consecutive three-pointers and UNF's Shepherd answered with a three of her own, as the Highlanders held a 37-34 lead. 

The Ospreys used an 11-2 spurt over the next three minutes to claim a 45-39 lead.

The Highlanders slimmed to deficit to four, 45-41, on a jumper by Alana Dudley at the 2:34 mark but the Osprey's finished the period with a 49-42 advatnage after a pair of free throws by Ioannidis.

Trailing 49-42 in the final period, NJIT's Camerin Spahn connected on a jumper in the paint, cutting the lead to five, 49-44. But UNF blew the game open with 13 unanswered points for a 62-44 edge with 6:04 left. In all, the Ospreys outscored NJIT 23-7 in the fourth quarter and 41-18 in the second half after the teams had been tied through 20 minutes.

NJIT, in its first season as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, will close out the regular season on February 27 at USC Upstate at 2pm.

Every team qualifies for the Atlantic Sun Conference championship tournament, which begins on March 4 with the quarterfinal round at the campus sites of the top four seeded teams.

NJIT will be the eighth seed unless the Highalnders win at Upstate and Lipscomb, currently #7, loses at Kennesaw State on Satursday,

If NJIT is seeded is eighth, which means it would open the tournament at runaway first-place winner Florida Gulf Coast.