LINCOLN, Neb. – Florida Atlantic women’s basketball (3-3) battled tough against Big Ten foe Nebraska (5-2), but ultimately fell 77-53 on Wednesday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mya Perry opened the scoring with a layup to put Florida Atlantic on the board first, 2-0. The Owls retook the lead 3-2 off a free throw from Jada Moore. Aniya Hubbard drove in the lane for the score to keep the Owls within two, 7-5, through the 5-minute mark of the opening period. However, the Cornhuskers closed the first on a 12-5 run to lead 19-10 after the first.
Nebraska held a 31-17 advantage with 4:42 to go in the opening half, before a 12-3 Owls run, capped off by a Perry 3-pointer, brought the Owls within five at the 1:25-minute mark of the third, but Nebraska tacked on three more to take a 37-29 lead into the break.
The Cornhuskers extended the lead back out to 52-35, but a 4-2 Florida Atlantic run, highlighted by a pair of free throws from Rose Caverly, the second of which lifted her to 1,000 career points. Cavely scored six of the Owls 10 points in the third quarter.
The Owls just couldn’t mount a comeback in the final 10 minutes of play as the 77-53 contest came to a close.
HEAD COACH JENNIFER SULLIVAN POSTGAME THOUGHTS
“I was proud of our execution today. Nebraska is a really good basketball team. The rebounding and their size really affected us. We had a lot of discussions between our last game and this game, talking about working together as a team and buying in. I thought our players did that today in a tough environment on the road. I think it gives us a lot to work with moving forward. I’m excited that we have a little bit of a break to now, so we don’t have to focus on scouts so much, and can now get a chance to focus on ourselves. We really need that. We had a lot of positive takeaways today. I was really proud of our post’s rebounding. That was huge and something we were trying to focus on going into the game. I was also proud of how we shared of the basketball, we didn’t make as many shots as we would like, but it was very encouraging and something we can work with moving forward.”
NOTES AND TEAM STATS
- Rose Caverly led the Owls in the contest, scoring a team-high nine points, and adding three boards, an assist, and a steal.
- Caverly surpassed 1,000 career points with her six points in the third quarter, officially reaching the mark with her second free throw at the 1:09 mark of the period.
- Dyllan Hanna pulled down a team-leading seven boards, while Jada Moore led the team with two assists and Aniya Hubbard collected a team-high two steals.
- The Owls outshot the Cornhuskers from the field, shooting 41.3 percent (19-of-46) to the Cornhuskers 40.8 percent (29-of-71).
- Florida Atlantic also had success in the second quarter, outscoring Nebraska 19-18 heading into the locker room.
UP NEXT
Next, the Owls will return to Paradise as they kick off a three-game home stretch beginning with St. Thomas on Tuesday, Dec. 5. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
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