JACKSONVILLE, FL—North Florida's Tesh Hanson scored a game-best 18 points en route to a 61-51 victory over visiting NJIT Monday evening in women's basketball ASUN Conference action at UNF Arena.
The two teams split the regular season series, with the Highlanders winning 64-62 in Newark on January 14 and the Ospreys tied the series, 1-1, with a 61-51 victory, Monday night, improving to 10-16 overall, 3-8 in the ASUN while the Highlanders drop to 10-16 overall, 3-8 in the conference.
North Florida's Hanson came off the bench and scored 18 points on 7-of-8 from the field and pulling down a game-best eight rebounds, in which the home team held a slight edge on the glass, 36-34.
The Ospreys other double-figure scorer was Claire Ioannidis, who netted 13 points, including three triples from downtown. Jaiveonna Norris dished out a game-best five assists and combined for four blocks in the win.
NJIT senior
Leah Horton led the way for the Highlanders, netting 14 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench. Redshirt sophomore
Kelly Guarino combined for 12 points, including three three-pointers and four rebounds.
Senior
Alana Dudley chipped in eight points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals and has moved into second place on the NJIT Division I career assists list with 279.
NJIT netted the first point of the contest and scored eight consecutive points in the first quarter, jumping out to a 9-3 lead, sparked by a layup from Horton at the 8:12 mark. North Florida scored the next four points, pulling within two, 7-9, as the Highlanders closed out the quarter, scoring the final three points for a 12-7 lead.
Guarino opened the scoring for the Highlanders in the second period knocking down her first three-pointer of the game at the 8:51 mark, extending the visitors lead to six, 15-9. The Ospreys used a 12-2 spurt to pull ahead by four, 21-17, on a three-pointer by Tesh Hanson.
NJIT's
Maria Ruban scored four straight for the Highlanders, slimming the Osprey lead to three, 21-24, with 2:12 on the clock. After four consecutive points by the home team, the Ospreys held a seven-point lead, 28-21, with 1:05 left to go in the first half. The visitors scored the final three points of the half, closing to within four, 24-28.
Horton led all scorers at the half with 10 points followed by North Florida's Claire Ioannidis and Tesh Hanson with nine apiece.
The Ospreys got things going in the third quarter on a 15-4 spurt, sparked by three triples by the Ospreys, taking a its largest lead of the game, 15, double-digits, 43-28, at the 5:07 mark.
NJIT's Guarino and
Tracey Brereton connected on consecutive three-pointers, cutting the Osprey lead to single-digits, nine, 34-43, with 3:11 left in the quarter. North Florida's Ioannidis knocked down a shot at the buzzer to lift the Osprey's lead to double-digits, 45-34.
Down 11, heading into the fourth quarter, NJIT's Guarino sank her third three-pointer of the contest, cutting the deficit to eight, 37-45, but the home team responded with four straight points to go back up 12, 49-37, with 8:13 on the clock.
NJIT would cut the lead to single digits one final time, 53-44, on a pair of free throws at the 3:13 mark by Dudley but the Ospreys would hold on to a 61-51 victory.
NJIT will play its final three games at home, first hosting Stetson on February 18 at 1pm in the Fleisher Athletic Center on ESPN3. In the first meeting between the two teams, Stetson won convincingly, 77-43, in DeLand, FL.
