A back and forth contest in the first half turned into a blowout as Kennesaw State out-scored Belmont 43-24 in the second half to outlast the Lady Bruins by a score of 68-46.
Leading by three after a Jasmine Johnson lay-in just before the halftime buzzer, the Black-and-Gold took off on an 11-4 run to start the second half. At that point the Lady Owls led 36-26 and the rout was on.
Jennifer Baker led the Lady Owls with a complete performance, leading both teams with 22 points while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing seven assists. Baker nearly tallied the first triple-double in program history.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been close to triple-double. Maybe in turnovers,” quipped a humble, yet humorous Baker.
KSU Coach Colby Tilley did not shy away from praising his senior star.
“As a senior, she’s playing like you want your seniors to play — with leadership and with hustle and with effort,” gushed the proud coach. “She wants to be sure that (her career) goes out with a bang. She’s playing great basketball.”
Besides Baker’s stellar play, the KSU defense held Belmont stars Amber Rockwell and Jessica Bobbitt to just nine combined points. The duo came into the game at third and seventh in the A-Sun in scoring average.
“That was our goal. Up there, Jen Baker did a great job on Rockwell as well. I don’t think Rockwell scored but five up there,” explained Tilley. “We defended Bobbitt differently (than last game). Up there we tried to front her and they lobbed it, so this time we were just playing behind her. In fairness to her, she got in foul trouble. But those were two we felt like we had to stop.”
The Lady Owls now stand at 10-7 in the Atlantic Sun after defeating the Lady Bruins, who came into the game in a third-place tie with Jacksonville.
KSU will host Lipscomb on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day. Jennifer Baker, Britteny Henderson, Ashley Johnson and Lennisha Johnson will celebrate their final home game as Lady Owls. Tipoff is at 4:30 p.m. against the last-place Lady Bison, whom KSU defeated 66-64 in Nashville on Jan. 22.
Black can be reached at sblack@scoreatl.com.
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