Hooks and Jones Combine for 32 Points in Close Loss at Austin Peay
Score: Kennesaw State 59, Austin Peay 65
Records: Kennesaw State (7-9, 3-2), Austin Peay (9-6, 4-1)
Key players: Carly Hooks (17 pts, 6 rebs, 3 asts, 1 stl); Stacie Jones (15 pts, 5-of-7 FG, 6 rebs, 1 Blk, 1 stl); Jah’Che Whitfield (11 pts, 7 rebs, 1 stl)
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Kennesaw State fell 65-59 to Austin Peay on Saturday afternoon at the Winfield Dunn Center. KSU went ahead late in the fourth as Jah’Che Whitfield knocked down a fadeaway jumper and Amani Johnson knocked down a pair of free throws to pass the 1,500-point mark for her career. However, the Governors went on an 11-2 run to hold off the Owls. Carly Hooks led Kennesaw State in scoring for the second straight contest with 17 points and Stacie Jones finished with 15 to power the offense.
COACH OCTAVIA BLUE QUOTES
In today’s performance…
“It was a battle the whole time and we knew that coming into the game. We didn’t shoot the ball from three particularly well and we made some mistakes in the fourth quarter that were costly and we didn’t hit our free throws down the stretch. That was a good team we played today and we just had to fight to get the win, but it didn’t work out.”
In the fight against…
“It’s very important for us to be resilient. We know basketball is a running game. When someone throws a punch, you have to counter. I was really proud that we were able to respond, but at the end, some mistakes down. The stretch cost us a chance to win this game.”
Attacking the offensive glass…
“Seventeen offensive rebounds is huge, but a lot of them were offensive drives around the rim that I would have liked to see us make. Unfortunately, we missed a bunch of easy shots in the paint. It was a physical game, but we have to we learn to finish better through contact.”
From today…
“We have to learn how to fight and fight back, which we did today. We can’t hang our heads too low in a loss or too high in a win. We have a really tough team coming up Thursday at Jacksonville State for a home game that will be good to come home to. We just have to be ready to defend because they are a similar team that likes to get to the basket. So we have to correct those mistakes, finish through contact and shoot better from the field.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Austin Peay jumped out to an early 5-0 lead before Lyndsey Whilby stopped the run with a triple in the top of the key. The Governors answered with a pair of threes on back-to-back possessions to go up 12-3 with 4:37 left in the first quarter.
KSU closed the quarter with a 6-0 run behind buckets by Johnson, Keyarah Berry and Gabi Legister to cut the deficit to five, 16-11.
After two quick buckets by the Govs, the Owls responded with an 11-0 run to take their first lead, 22-20 with 3:30 left in the half. Hooks and Jones combined for 11 points during the stretch.
APSU scored eight straight points to pull back 28-22 with just over a minute left in the second quarter. KSU finished the half scoring the last four points to pull within two, 28-26.
Kennesaw State outscored the Govs 6-2 over the first three minutes of the third quarter to retake the lead, 32-30. Austin Peay countered with a 6-0 run of its own to pull within four, 36-32, with 4:06 left in the third.
Hooks, Whitfield and Jones scored six straight points for the Owls to take the lead again with 1:04 left, 40-38. The Governors closed out the final 37 seconds on a 4-0 run to regain the lead.
Trailing 53-47, KSU went on an 8-0 run highlighted by a 3-pointer by Whilby and a fadeaway jumper by Whitfield to go up 55-53. Johnson knocked down a pair of free throws that surpassed her 1,500 career point mark to push the lead to two, 57-55.
A four-point play with less than two minutes left by Yamia Johnson put Austin Peay back in front, 59-57.
The Owls had three great looks down four in the final 30 seconds, but couldn’t convert on the open look. The Governors put the game away at the free throw line to hold off KSU, 65-59.
NEXT
KSU returns home for a game against Jacksonville State on Thursday at 7:00 pm at the KSU Convocation Center.
To keep up with the latest Kennesaw State women’s basketball news, follow the team on Twitter @KSUOwlNation and @KSUOwlsWBB or by liking Kennesaw State University on Facebook.
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