The week in First Coast college basketball: UNF's Alexa Washington sets program 3-point record

When University of North Florida freshman guard Alexa Washington entered the game midway through the first quarter and touched the ball for the first time in a home game against Piedmont on Dec. 13, she turned it over.

Most of her touches after that ended with the ball going through the basket — usually from long distance.

Washington, from Monroeville, Pa., made a program-record nine 3-pointers in the Ospreys’ 105-66 victory over Piedmont, topping the record of eight held by Marissa Mackins.

Washington made 11 of 19 shots from the floor and 9 of 16 from beyond the 3-point arc for a career-high 31 points. It tied for the eighth-best single-game scoring mark by a UNF player with Jazz Bond and Skye Barber.

While six of Washington's 3-pointers were from the baseline, she also connected once from the right and left wings, and from the top of the key.

As a team, UNF made 17 of 38 3-pointers, one away from the program record of 18. Four other players made at least one 3-point shot and Lyric Swann hit 3 of 7 and scored 19 points.

The coming week will see First Coast teams hitting the road to play formidable major conference opponents. The UNF men will play at FSU on Tuesday and at Georgia on Friday, while Jacksonville plays at Purdue on Thursday.

The JU women will play at Alabama on Wednesday.

Men: Figueroa leads Flagler in two close wins

Player of the week: Flagler junior guard Omar Figueroa scored 48 points and shot 18 of 37 in two games, both victories. He had 25 points in a 101-93 overtime victory at Eckerd on Saturday and had 23 points as the Saints nipped Spring Hill 99-98. His two free throws with 19 seconds left against Spring Hill proved to be the deciding points.

Stat line of the week: Jacksonville sophomore guard Robert McCray had 22 points, five rebounds, six assists and five steals in the Dolphins’ 86-85 overtime loss at South Carolina State.

This week’s games

Dec. 18

Louisiana-Monroe at Jacksonville, 11:30 a.m.

Tuskegee (Ala.) at Edward Waters, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 19

North Florida at Florida State, 8 p.m.

Dec. 21

Jacksonville at Purdue, 6:30 p.m.

Dec. 22

North Florida at Georgia, 3 p.m.

Noting UNF (7-5): The Ospreys played one game, beating Trinity Baptist 113-72. Six players scored in double figures, led by freshman guard Jasai Miles with 22 off the bench. Miles made all seven of his shots from the floor (3 of 3 from the 3-point arc), made 5 of 6 from the foul line and had nine rebounds. ... Junior guard Ametri Moss had 17 points and nine rebounds.

Noting JU (7-4): Orange Park graduate Josiah Sabino got the most extensive playing time of his college career when he started and logged 25 minutes in the Dolphins’ 91-54 victory over Trinity Baptist. Sabino had eight points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. … McCray and Jarius Cook combined for 43 points and shot 13 of 26 from the floor in the loss at South Carolina State. … Graduate senior DeeJuan Pruitt scored 18 points in 16 minutes against Trinity.

Noting Edward Waters (3-8, 2-2 in the SIAC): The Tigers made only 3 of 25 3-point attempts in a 103-85 loss to Spring Hill, their only game of the week.

Noting Trinity Baptist (3-4): The Eagles averaged 15 turnovers in three road losses last week. In their 113-72 loss on Saturday at North Florida, five players scored in double figures, led by senior forward Zach Kiadi of Jacksonville and sophomore center Brandon Hill with 15 points each.

Noting Flagler (6-3): The Saints are 3-1 in games decided by less than 10 points. In last week's two road games, in which they won by a combined nine points and the key both times was offensive rebounding. Flagler out-rebounded its opponents 24-16 on the offensive glass and outscored them 33-17 on second-chance points.

Women: Washington best when coming in cold

Player of the week: Even though Washington was held in check on Saturday at Kansas State with only one 3-pointer, her performance against Piedmont was enough. Washington is averaging 10.0 points per game, all off the bench, and leads UNF and is tied for second in the ASUN in 3-point percentage at 36.6.

Stat line of the week: Flagler junior guard Dane Bertolina had 16 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists and two steals in the Saints’ 88-56 victory over Southern Wesleyan.

This week’s games

Dec. 18

Flagler at Florida Tech, 12 p.m.

Tuskegee (Ala.) at Edward Waters, 3 p.m.

Dec. 19

Flagler vs. Talladega (at Melbourne, Fla., Clemente Center), 2 p.m.

Dec. 20

Winthrop (S.C.) at North Florida, 12 p.m.

Jacksonville at Alabama, 7 p.m.

Noting UNF (4-8): After beating Piedmont, the Ospreys lost at No. 12 Kansas State 79-53 on Saturday. The key was turnovers: UNF made double the number of the Wildcats, 22-11, and was outscored off turnovers 22-10. K-State also outscored the Ospreys 52-18 in the paint. Lyric Swann led UNF with 12 points.

Noting JU (4-6): The Dolphins’ 102-77 loss to Marshall was a battle down low. The Herd scored 58 points in the paint and JU scored 55. However, JU’s 42 turnovers led to 51 points for Marshall. Junior guard Edyn Battle had 26 for the Dolphins. … Battle had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists in a 70-67 victory over North Carolina Central.

Noting Edward Waters (4-4, 2-2 in the SIAC): The Tigers lost twice by single digits last week, 61-55 at Embry-Riddle and 73-65 at home on Saturday to Spring Hill. Senior guard Sha'Kawanza Brown had 25 points and six rebounds to lead the Tigers against Spring Hill. ... Junior center Imani Harris had 18 points and 11 rebounds against Embry-Riddle and eight points and 10 rebounds against Spring Hill.

Noting Trinity Baptist (3-7): Junior guard Emma Parrish of Palm Coast scored 22 of the Eagles’ points in their 114-37 loss at Bethune-Cookman. She also had six rebounds.

Noting Flagler (4-4): Destiny McClendon scored 29 points and was near-perfect in all areas of shooting in the Saints’ victory over Southern Wesleyan. The junior guard was 8 of 11 from the floor, 4 of 5 from the 3-point arc and 9 of 10 from the free-throw line.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Going deep: UNF's Alexa Washington breaks program 3-point record