BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University women’s basketball team (5-13, 1-6 in Conference USA) will host UTSA (4-15, 1-7 in C-USA) tomorrow afternoon. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at Abessinio Court at FAU Arena.
The game serves as a celebration for National Girls and Women in Sports Day, in which a myriad of student-athletes across all women’s sports at FAU will be in attendance and recognized between the first and second quarter. Girl Power t-shirts, as seen on the header image, will be given out while supplies last.
ABOUT THE OWLS
- Jennifer Sullivan is in her first season at the helm of the FAU women’s basketball program. She is a 16-year coaching veteran and the sixth head coach in program history
- FAU is set to host its annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration on Saturday
- The Owls are coming off a huge league win over UTEP, 54-52, which broke an eight-game losing skid and earned the Owls their first Conference USA victory of the season
- FAU brings back eight student-athletes from the 2020-21 team, all of whom have seen time on a college court
- Amber Gaston leads the Owls with 12.6 points per game and a .525 field goal percentage
- Janeta Rozentale has a team’s most 8.3 rebounds per game
- Kynadi Kuykendoll leads the way with 3.1 assists per game (55 total)
- FAU has four Owls averaging double digits in scoring (Gaston, Rita Pleskevich, Rozentale and Alexa Zaph)
- The Owls stand second in free throw percentage (.751) and fourth in defensive rebounds per game (26.9) in C-USA
LAST TIME OUT
- FAU broke its eight-game losing streak after defeating UTEP, 54-52, on Thursday night
- The win also marked FAU’s first C-USA win of the season
- Alexa Zaph delivered the game-winning basket with 13 seconds left in the game
- Rita Pleskevich had one of the best performances of her career with 21 points off 7-for-19 shooting
- Janeta Rozentale recorded eight points and 10 boards
- The Owls held UTEP to 15.4% shooting (2-for-13) from beyond the arc
- FAU capitalized off UTEP miscues, tallying 17 of their points off turnovers
SCOUTING UTSA
- UTSA was projected to finish 14th in the C-USA Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league’s head coaches
- LaPraisjah Johnson leads the Roadrunners with 9.7 points per game
- Queen Ulabo has a team’s most 6.0 rebounds per game
- Jadyn Pimentel leads the Roadrunners with 2.3 assists per game, as well as 2.8 steals per game
- The Roadrunners are led by Karen Aston, who is in her first season in San Antonio. She has a well-established reputation as a head coach, previously at the helm at Texas
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE ROADRUNNERS
- FAU holds a 7-5 advantage over the Roadrunners in the all-time series
- FAU is 4-1 at home, 3-3 on the road and 0-1 at a neutral site vs. UTSA
- The series began in 2014, the Owls’ first year in C-USA. Both team’s first meeting came on March 1, 2014, which resulted in a 71-69 win on the road for FAU
- FAU and UTSA have played each other at least once each year since the 2013-14 season
- The last four games of the series have gone the Owls’ way, with FAU winning five of the last six matchups
- Last season, the Owls swept the Roadrunners in the back-to-back series played in Boca Raton. In the first of two games, FAU beat UTSA, 72-59. Janeta Rozentale tallied 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Alexa Zaph was just shy of a double-double with 11 points and eight boards
- The Owls beat the Roadrunners in the second game of the series as well, defeating the Roadrunners, 79-50. Rozentale captured 15 points, Allie Tylka logged 14 points and eight boards and Sofia Galeron registered 10 points off the bench
AN OWL WIN MEANS
- The Owls will extend their winning streak to two games
- Sullivan will earn back-to-back wins for the second time this season
- FAU will extend its winning streak vs. the Roadrunners to five games
UPCOMING
FAU will embark another three-game roadtrip next week, starting with a road matchup at Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. The Owls will be back at home to face WKU on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. Tickets for the game can be purchased here or by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
OWLS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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