JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In their first game of 2021, the Jacksonville University women's basketball team made the quick trip down I-295 to take on the University of North Florida in the first game of the River City Rumble. The Dolphins (2-4, 0-1) playing for the first time since December 14, came up just short in a battle with the Ospreys (4-6, 2-1) 72-65 despite big performances from Erin Wilson and Johné Stewart in their season debuts.
 
"For our first time playing since December 14, I think our group did a good job playing of playing Jacksonville basketball," said head coach Darnell Haney. "We just need to do a better job taking care of the ball and finishing some plays inside. There were some things that we will need to clean up and need to adjust for tomorrow, but there was plenty of good things that I saw out there today."
 
"Erin Wilson did a fantastic job this afternoon," Haney Added. "She did a great job in her rehab and did everything she needed to do to give us a shot to win today. She made plays on the offensive and defensive ends today and really embodies the culture of our program in her approach on the court and off of it."
 
Jacksonville, who played the majority of their first five games with a limited rotation of players, welcomed back several players from injury, as Erin Wilson and Johné Stewart highlighted the list, along with Alexis Pierce. The afternoon opened with a Jazz Bond jumper to put the Ospreys on the board first, but the Dolphins would answer right back as moments later Pierce knocked down the first three of the day to jump ahead. The two teams would go back and forth in the quarter, with the home team leading 16-13 after 10 minutes.
 
In the second quarter after North Florida extended their lead to 20-14, JU went on a 13-0 run starting with a three from Stewart at 8:22 that would see them go from down six to up seven at 27-20. Stewart would drain three more baskets from long range in the period while Pierce would add one of her own as Jacksonville took a 35-30 lead into the intermission.
 
Jacksonville started strong in the second half, as Wilson kept her hot hand, as she scored five of JU's first seven points. However, North Florida went on a run of their own starting near the 6:30 mark to retake the lead for good, outscoring JU 24-12 in the period to lead 54-47 at the end of three. Despite attempts at a late rally, the Dolphins just couldn't manage to get closer than three in the final quarter as the Ospreys were able to match Jacksonville point-for-point to end the afternoon.
 
Wilson and Stewart showed no signs of rust in their first games since the ASUN quarterfinals against UNF last season. The duo combined for 40 points and 10 boards, with the former scoring a career-high 26 on 9-19 shooting and the latter posting 14 on the strength of 4-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Pierce added 15 points and three rebounds in 33 minutes. As a team, JU connected on a season-high 10 three pointers as they posted their second-highest scoring output of the year.
 
Bond did most of the work for the Ospreys, scoring 30 points and 12-21 shooting while Marissa Mackins scored 20 on 6-12 shooting. UNF shot 41% from the floor and hit 18-25 free throws in the contest.
 
With this season's single-site weekend format, the Dolphins and Ospreys will be back in action once again at 2 PM Sunday from UNF Arena to conclude the weekend series.