BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic women’s basketball team (3-1) battled tough against a four-win Binghamton Bearcats team (4-2), earning a double-digit 51-41 win on Friday evening inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
“[We’re] really excited to be able to get the win,” said head coach Jennifer Sullivan. “Had a little bit of adversity, struggled in some areas and were able to overcome all those things in order to come up with the win, because that’s the most important thing. We want to get excited and celebrate wins when they come, so really excited about the players that made a run to help carry us through and get a W.”
The Owls opened the contest on a 13-4 run with four points from Janeta Rozentale and Devyn Scott, as well as three points from Joiya Maddox, and capped by a pair of Aniya Hubbard free throws to give the Owls a commanding nine-point lead just over five minutes into the contest. The Bearcats responded with a pair of buckets to cut the FAU lead to five, 13-8, but a layup from Dyllan Hanna closed out the opening period to put FAU back up by seven, 15-8.
The Owls and Bearcats traded buckets over the opening five minutes and 30 seconds of the second to a 19-12 FAU lead. Aniya Hubbard then knocked down the Owls’ first 3-pointer of the contest to push the FAU lead to double-digits at 22-12, but a 4-0 Bearcats run closed out the second to bring the FAU lead to six heading into the locker room, 22-16.
FAU had a slow start to open the second half, as the Bearcats scored six unanswered over the first minute and a half of the third to spark an FAU timeout as Binghamton evened things up at 22. The Bearcats continued to battle the Owls as they outscored FAU 5-4 through the 5:36-minute mark to give Binghamton its first lead of the game at 27-26, but it was short-lived as Rozentale knocked down a free throw to even things once again at 27. FAU retook the lead, holding a one-point advantage at 30-29 with 3:27 to play. The Owls locked in defensively over the final three minutes of play as they held the Bearcats scoreless, scoring seven unanswered to push the FAU lead back out to eight entering the final 10 minutes of play, 37-29.
After a fourth quarter-opening 3-point jumper for the Bearcats to cut the FAU lead to five, 37-32, the Owls went on a 6-0 run, capped by a Hubbard jumper to push FAU’s lead back to double-digits, 43-32. The Owls continued to pressure the Bearcats, continuing to outscore them 6-2, pushing the FAU lead to its largest of the game at 15, 49-34, with just 2:49 to play. Binghamton attempted to rally, outscoring FAU 7-2 over the final two minutes of play, but it was too little too late as the Owls secured the double-digit victory, 51-41, and hand the Bearcats their second loss of the season.
NOTES AND TEAM STATS
- Aniya Hubbard led the Owls in the game, scoring a new personal and team season-high 17 points, in addition to pulling down seven boards
- Janeta Rozentale also had an impressive performance, pulling down a season-high 12 rebounds, including eight offensive boards, and scoring a team second-best 10 points
- Sofia Galeron dished out a season-best and team-high four assists, while also tying for a team-high with a block and a steal
- The Owls dominated in the paint, outscoring the Bearcats 36-18
- FAU’s win over the Bearcats was a full-team effort as the Owls’ bench scored 26 points, while the starting five contributed 25 points in the win
UP NEXT
The Owls close out play in the Thanksgiving Classic tomorrow, hosting the Sacred Heart Pioneers for a 4 p.m. tip inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
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