Spinnaker [Distributed: Wednesday, December 6, 2006]

While most students are preparing to head home as finals conclude, the athletes on the University of North Florida basketball teams have daily practices and scheduled games to look forward to instead.

The men's and women's basketball teams have 12 games scheduled over the holiday break including conference and non-conference games. This, according to the men's head coach, Matt Kilcullen, is normal during the transition into Division I.

"Unfortunately, in transition we can't dictate the schedule," he said. "We have to take what we get. That is just the way it goes."

The team plays seven straight games at home during December and January.

The women's head coach, Mary Tappmeyer, also explained the tight scheduling as a result of finals week.

"We can't do anything as a team during the week of finals. That's a whole week to lose for scheduling," she said.

The teams will continue to practice daily through December. Once the players return back from their mere five-day break, two-a-day practices will begin.

The women's basketball team plays Hofstra University Dec. 29 at home, which according to Tappmeyer should be one of the best games over the break. The Ospreys also face off against the University of Central Florida and Georgia State University in the UCF tournament Dec. 18 and 19.

"The tournament in Orlando will be a good challenge for us," Tappmeyer said.

For the men, Kilcullen is simply looking forward to improvement.

"I am looking at each and every game for us to get better," he said. "We can't look ahead at anyone. We have to take games one at a time and try to get better."

The team will get their chance throughout the scheduled break. With only five days away from the team, there will be lots of time to work on their game.

Team captures first conference win

The University of North Florida women's basketball team lost 76-48 to the Atlantic Sun Conference defending champions, Belmont University, in its first A-Sun game Nov. 30. The team followed however, with its first A-Sun win against Lipscomb University 53-44 Dec. 2.

The Ospreys were outscored early by the Bruins and trailed 9-0 with 17:07 to go in the first half.

Sophomore forward Jennifer Guldager made the first two points for UNF and Cecilia Woolfolk followed with a free throw and a jump shot.

The score was 14-5 when Belmont started to pull away. They led by as many as 19 points.

In the second half, Belmont increased its lead and finished the game 76-48 over North Florida.

Sophomore forward Antoinette Reames scored a career high 14 points against the Belmont Bruins.

Reames played consistently on both ends of the floor with 14 points, five rebounds, five blocks and two steals. She outscored her 11-point career high in the Ospreys' previous game versus Villanova.

Along with Reames, Belmont center Jessica Bobbit also scored a game high 14 points. Teammates Alysha Clark and Angela Roof followed with 10 points each.

Senior point guard Denisia Andrews, senior guard Tamara Hubbard and sophomore guard Jennifer Bowen each scored six points for the Ospreys.

Bowen led the team in rebounding with nine boards, sharing the game high with Bobbit.

The loss gave UNF its fourth consecutive loss overall and its first in the A-Sun.

North Florida broke the routine with its victory over Lipscomb, as three UNF guards finished with double- figure points.

Bowen led the Ospreys to victory with a career high 16 points while freshman guard Shandrea Moore contributed 12 points and five assists. Hubbard added 11 points.

Along with offense, the team played effectively on the defensive end. Moore grabbed three steals while Bowen and Hubbard each had four.

"This win was a needed one," Hubbard said. "The game today was a different game than Thursday [against Belmont]. We played aggressive and picked up our defense. We were more in sync tonight."

North Florida's Guldager played aggressively on the defensive end with seven defensive boards. The sophomore forward led all players in rebounding with 12 while Reames grabbed five rebounds to go with her three blocks. Reames blocked eight shots in total on the two-game road trip.

Lipscomb's Miriam McAllister finished second in rebounding with 10 boards. She also had a team high of nine points.

The competitive game left both teams tied at 21 at half time. It continued to be close in the second half.

The Ospreys built on this momentum and gained a 40-31 advantage with 12:16 to go in the game. They ended the game with an 11-point advantage.

Head Coach Mary Tappmeyer was pleased with the Ospreys' performance.

"I thought we played a great defensive game. We forced 30 turnovers," she said. " I'm really proud of them because it's really tough to get wins on the road in the Atlantic Sun Conference."

The victory brought North Florida's record to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

North Florida will suit up again to compete against Bethune-Cookman University Saturday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m.

Ospreys lose road games to top-ranked conference foes

The University of North Florida men's basketball team lost to Belmont University 76-48 and to Lipscomb University 68-54 during its weekend road trip to Nashville, Tenn.

The double loss dropped the Ospreys record 0-2 in the Atlantic Sun Conference and 1-7 overall. The losses to the Lipscomb Bisons and to the Belmont Bruins continued the Ospreys road woes with an active 24 road game losing streak.

The Ospreys' first Atlantic Sun game of the season was against the Bruins, who had more than six different players scoring at least nine points. The Bruins outscored the Ospreys 34-11 taking a 45-18 lead at the half. The Bruins also out-rebounded the Ospreys 46-28 while the Ospreys had 18 turnovers compared to the Bruins' 12. Junior forward Gallo Cham led the Ospreys with six rebounds.

The game against the Bruins held an Osprey offense scoreless for seven minutes to start the second half. Sophomore guard Ian Gibson finished the game with three steals for UNF.

Belmont is currently tied for first place in the Atlan- tic Sun Conference with Lipscomb and East Tennessee State Universities.

"We learned that we can play well on the road," Coach Matt Kilcullen said. "We have to learn how to 'close the door' so to speak and finish games."

The Ospreys shot 29 percent from the field and did not have any players scoring in double figures. Freshman guard Germaine Sparks led the Ospreys with seven points including two 3-point shots. Junior center James Grimball also scored seven points. Gibson and senior forward Rashad Williams had six points each.

North Florida took Lipscomb during its second conference game of the season. Three Ospreys scored in double figures including Williams, Grimball, and junior point guard Chris Timberlake.

Timberlake had three assists during the game to surpass Bobby Patton (1993-95) in career assists. Timberlake currently has 233 assists in only his junior year at UNF.

The Ospreys trailed 11-7 to begin the first half of the game before slowly starting a comeback of their own. The Ospreys led the game by two points to end the half with 61 percent shooting. They held Lipscomb to 24 percent shooting.

Williams brought the Ospreys into the second half with a jumper, giving the Ospreys a 39-37 lead. Lipscomb then ended the game with a 14-8 scoring run.

Cham led the Ospreys with seven rebounds. The Ospreys out-rebounded the Bisons 32-30.

With these games, Osprey fans can look for a team with more game experience, according to Kilcullen.

"Hopefully we have a lot more chemistry," Kilcullen said. "We're playing better as a team, and we're going to be playing more consistently."

The Ospreys return to action at the College of William and Mary at 7 p.m Dec. 8.

University not likely to follow in local football footsteps

For many people, college football season is the best time of the year. Fans are celebrating their favorite teams' victories and are agonizing during their teams' defeats.

Many students at the University of North Florida want a football team so they can show school spirit and share the game day experience. But according to Athletic Director Richard Gropper, a football team for UNF is not in the immediate future.

It would take an estimated $3 million to start a football program at UNF. However, the university does not have the money at this time to start a team and upgrade the facilities to host it.

"I think having a football team would be great for the university," Gropper said. "I think it would attract more students around the country to attend this school."

Although UNF received a donation from George and Kernan Hodges for $2 million, he said it would still be a major step for the university to upgrade the soccer stadium.

"George and Kernan Hodges have been loyal and generous friends to UNF for many years," Gropper said. "Their recent donation will help the athletic program to take a significant step forward in its development of maintaining a Division I program."

Despite the prohibitive cost of starting a team now, Gropper said he is a huge college football fan and hopes that in the future, the school will raise enough money to get a football team.

There are many students at UNF who agree.

"I think it would be great if we can get a football team," junior history major Darragh Ramoutar said. "The students can enjoy that game day experience, and it will bring a lot of excitement to this university."

There are other colleges and universities that have established football programs in Jacksonville.

Jacksonville University has had a football program since 1998, and it has given the school national publicity.

According to JU Assistant Media Relations Director Josh Ellis, the university has its own radio show on ESPN 1460 AM, a weekly column in the Florida Times-Union, and has several of its football games televised on Comcast Sports Net.

"Since the school has gained a football team, atmosphere at JU has changed," said Joel Lamp, the assistant athletic director of media relations.

He said the students celebrate in a big way on game day during the football season. Especially on homecoming week, JU students know how to show a lot of school spirit.

"We had a high school recruit visit our university during homecoming week," Lamp said. "He liked the students' passion so much that he chose our school on signing day."

Edward Waters College established a football program in 2001, but the process began in 1998.

First, the college had to start a strategic plan, and then find support from people in the community. Next, a financial campaign was put in place to raise money to fund program expenses.

Other expenses included game day equipment for 60 players, a Division II coaching staff, a medical training staff, an equipment manager and an equipment staff. EWC also had to fund practice equipment, scholarships and money for travel fees during away games.

The final bill to put together the football program at EWC was an estimated $2.5 million.

In addition, EWC had to seek out many places to get publicity for the school.

"We had to beg and campaign for local media exposure," Henry Smith, the assistant athletic director at EWC, said. "I had to go to many newspaper companies in south Florida to ask them to cover our team."

Although UNF does not have a football team like other schools around the country, students anticipate that one day they can have the privilege to share in the experience of cheering on their own team.

"I hope that UNF can receive a football team," Kathy Foote, senior advertising major at UNF, said. "It would help bring more students to this university, and we can represent our team with pride."

The Holiday Schedule

Men's Basketball

Dec. 16: Edward Waters College, 2 p.m.
Dec. 18: Binghamton University, 7 p.m.
Dec. 20: Florida A&M University, 7 p.m.
Dec. 28: Skidmore College, 7 p.m.
Jan. 2: Campbell University, 4 p.m.
Jan. 4: Gardner Webb University, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 9: Jacksonville University, 7 p.m.

Women's Basketball

Dec. 18: University of Central Florida, 7 p.m.
Dec. 19: Georgia State University, 3 p.m.
Dec. 29: Hofstra University, 2 p.m.
Jan. 4: Campbell University, 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 6: Gardner Webb University, 2 p.m.

From the Cheap Seats

Get ready to rumble

This semester is rapidly coming to an end. Thanksgiving is behind us, Christmas is right around the corner, and then ... it's the best sports month of the year.

That's right. January is, by far, my favorite month to enjoy sporting events. Your viewing options include: bowl games (the real ones, not the Independence Dot Com Home Depot Holiday Bowl that pits two schools you've never cared to watch), NFL playoffs, NBA and NHL in mid-season form,as well as MLB rumors and trades. The PGA tour also begins its season, and of course there's college basketball. I love college basketball.

But on a local level, there's no game bigger on campus than the basketball game against cross-town rival Jacksonville University on Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. in the Arena.

It's the second year of the SunTrust River City Rumble, and we're in a good position to win the Old Wooden Barrel this year.

OK, so the basketball team is off to a slow start, but you know the guys will be up for this one.

To recap, last year's crowd of more than 3,000 was the largest in Arena history for the University of North Florida basketball. Most of those were students in enough of a frenzied state to storm the court after the Ospreys won 90-78.

It was the first meeting of the two teams at our house, and the first time we ever beat them. With the win, we also jumped them in the conference standings. What an explosive way to start the tradition.

Now it's chapter two.

Being the second night back after winter break, the event is being hyped as the Welcome Back Bash party of the year. The Ospreys need you to be on your A+ game, as they depend on the sixth man in the stands.

Dress Code: wigs or jester hat, wear white (or body paint), and comfortable shoes, since you'll be standing and jumping most of the night.

Expect to lose your voice.

It will be televised on CSS and replayed a bunch, so you might even catch yourself on the tube.

Student Government Association will be holding its Late Night breakfast immediately following the game in front of the Arena.

It's time to make a difference, and to differentiate ourselves in this city. Let's set another attendance record. Be loud, be proud. Swoop it up and kick some Dolphin tail. Go Ospreys.

Disclaimer: The opinions offered here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the university or its Athletics Dept.

Print Edition

SPORTS

There is no place for home this holiday

Team captures first conference win

Ospreys lose road games to top-ranked conference foes

University not likely to follow in local football footsteps

The Holiday Schedule

From the Cheap Seats

Get ready to rumble

Sports in Brief

Ospreys bring new assistant coach to tennis staff

Intramural 7-on-7 flag football concludes season

Osprey athletics hit the big screen

Flight Schedule

Osprey Scoreboard