No. 21 Florida Gulf Coast women stymie North Florida 56-24

Feb 25, 2015, 09:18 pm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Kaneisha Atwater scored 13 points and Whitney Knight had 11 but it was the defense that was outstanding for No. 21 Florida Gulf Coast women in racing to its 21st-straight win, 56-24 over North Florida on Wednesday.

Despite an off night offensively -- the Eagles (26-2, 13-0 Atlantic Sun) were 18 points below their season average -- defensively they held the Ospreys (11-17, 2-10) to the lowest total allowed since FGCU moved up to Division I in 2007-08.

North Florida shot 19 percent (8 of 42) while missing all eight of its 3-point attempts and tying the school record for fewest points scored in a game. The Ospreys were 5 of 24 in the first half with just one attempted 3, and 3 of 18 in the second half.

North Florida took a 9-7 lead midway through the first half when the Eagles scored 12 straight, which they turned into an 18-1 run, before the Ospreys got their next field goal to trail 25-12 at the half.