BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic women’s basketball (12-9, 5-7 C-USA) had Feb. 2 circled on the calendar for nearly a month and the Owls made the most of it, earning an 80-75 victory over the UAB Blazers (10-11, 2-10 C-USA) on Thursday evening at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Owls struck first, jumping out to a 4-0 lead after jumpers from Alexa Zaph and Jada Moore. The Blazers answered back with seven unanswered points to take their first lead of the contest, 7-4, but Alexa knocked down the Owls’ first 3-pointer of the contest to quickly even things at seven with 6:18 remaining in the first. The Blazers then scored five to take a 12-7 lead, but FAU answered back to bring things back within two, 14-12, with 1:46 to play in the opening period. However, UAB hit a three to close out the first, taking a 19-14 advantage into the second quarter.
Both teams had a slow start to the second quarter, however the Blazers struck first to extend their lead to seven, 21-14, at the 7:02-mark of the period. The Owls locked in to hold the Blazers scoreless over the following four minutes of clock. FAU scored eight unanswered to close the gap and retake the lead for the first time since the first quarter, 22-21. The two teams battled through a pair of ties before UAB would record the final shot to take a 26-24 advantage into the halftime break.
Out of the locker room, the Owls and Blazers traded baskets eventually leading to a 34-34 tie at the 6:20-minute mark of the third. FAU and UAB continued to battle and trade blows as the two teams remained locked even at 38-38 with 4:41 to play in the quarter, before going 12-12 over the final five minutes of the third to take a 50-50 stalemate into the final 10 minutes of play.
The Owls took a 52-50 lead to open the fourth after a pair of free throws from Joiya Maddox, however the Blazers answered with a 3-pointer to retake the lead 53-52. Over the following three minutes of clock, the Owls produced their best run of the contest, scoring 13 unanswered points to take a 65-53 lead that was capped off by a jumper from Jada Moore. UAB clawed back to close the gap to three after an 11-2 run to bring the Owls lead down to just a possession, 67-64, with just under three minutes to play. However, the Owls locked in over the final three minutes of the contest, outscoring UAB 13-11 to capture the 80-75 win.
QUOTABLE
“I think [the win] was really big,” said head coach Jennifer Sullivan. “Every night in Conference USA is a battle. We want to compete against hard-fought teams. But our game earlier this year at UAB would be the one game we would say that we wish we could have got back because we didn’t think we played our best at their place. So, we really wanted to do that tonight, perform the way we do, and see what the outcome is from there. We thought we could be successful and I’m glad we were able to do that tonight.”
NOTES AND TEAM STATS
- Aniya Hubbard posted her fifth 20-plus point performance of the season, scoring a career-high 28 points, shooting 59 percent from the field (10-of-17) and going 78 percent (7-of-9) from the free throw line. Hubbard also added six rebounds, five steals, and two assists in the win.
- Jada Moore and Joiya Maddox also had good nights for the Owls, scoring 14 points and 10 points, respectively.
- Janeta Rozentale led the Owls on the glass, collecting a team-high seven boards and tallying a team-leading two blocks in the win.
- The Owls shot well from the field, connecting on 46 percent (26-of-57) from the floor, as well as shooting 39 percent (5-of-13) from 3-point range and 77 percent (23-of-30) from the free throw line.
- FAU also dominated UAB in points in the paint, 34-24, fastbreak points, 16-5, points off turnovers, 17-13, as well as outrebounding the Blazers 34-29, holding the edge in both offensive, 11-8, and defensive boards, 23-21.
UP NEXT
FAU returns to the hardwood on Saturday, Feb. 4 as the Owls host the Charlotte 49ers for their Play4Kay and Alumni Day game. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
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