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MACON, Ga. – They Believe! That’s the mindset of the Kennesaw State women’s basketball team as it gets ready for one of its biggest games in Division I program history when it takes on Florida Gulf Coast in an A-Sun Semifinal matchup on Friday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m.
After staging an improbable comeback on Thursday afternoon Kennesaw State (14-16, 8-10 A-Sun) believes that it is their time and if it can take its momentum from the conclusion of its game against UNF into Friday then it should be an exciting matchup.
The Lady Owls looked lost in the first 32 minutes of their game against the Ospreys only scoring 33 points with less than eight minutes remaining in the game. However, KSU never stopped believing and slowly but surely it started to creep its way back into the game until it turned into a one point game after two
Lisa Capellan free throws with 24 seconds left.
This is the point where A-Sun Freshman of the Year
Taylor Mills took over as she came up with a steal and a layup to give the Lady Owls its first lead since midway through the first half at 49-48. After a free throw by North Florida tied the game, Mills was fouled with two seconds left on a three-point attempt. The Knoxville, Tenn. native made two of the three free throws to give KSU the lead, and it held on for the win after a Capellan steal. The team celebrated its monumental win at midcourt at the final buzzer as KSU closed the game on an impressive 14-4 run.
If Kennesaw State wants to advance to it’s first-ever A-Sun Championship game it will have to go through Florida Gulf Coast (27-2 18-0 A-Sun), who is ranked 28th in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. However, KSU believes it can pull off the upset because it has given the Eagles some trouble in the past, which includes a 63-52 win over FGCU last season. It only lost by a score of 58-51 in Fort Myers earlier this season as well. That contest was the second closest game FGCU had in conference play all season. Only to its four point win at Stetson on Jan. 21 was more closely contested. The Lady Owls also dig in their heels defensively against Florida Gulf Coast as the Eagles have only averaged 63.5 points in their last four games against KSU.
No one believes more of what his team can do than head coach
Colby Tilley and he talked about what he thinks it will take to pull off the upset on Friday.
“Our players are playing with a lot of confidence right now, especially after the way we came back to win Thursday’s game,” coach Tilley said. “The fact that we played Florida Gulf Coast in a really close game at their place earlier this season lets us know that we can do this because we were just a couple turnovers away from winning that game. Our players know what they have to do from a defensive standpoint so as long as we execute it will be an exciting game.”
For KSU to have a chance at the upset it needs Mills to continue her recent success against FGCU as she is averaging 11 points, 4.5 assists and 44 percent shooting from three-point land in her last two games against the Eagles.
The game will be aired live on Comcast Sports South, ESPN3 and A-Sun TV.
