BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Florida Atlantic University women’s basketball team (4-8, 2-6 Conference USA) pulled out a huge road win at WKU (6-10, 5-5, C-USA) Saturday night, 75-70. FAU’s gutsy victory broke a 12-game losing streak against WKU and marked the first time in school history the Owls defeated the Lady Toppers at E.A. Diddle Arena.
HOW IT WAS DECIDED
1Q
Iggy Allen picked up from where she left off last night, converting a layup off a steal. FAU trailed 10-9 at the first media timeout, but then the Owls committed three turnovers in under two minutes, which allowed the Lady Toppers to sail on an 8-0 run to lead 15-9. Rita Pleskevich knocked down a second-chance 3-pointer to cut the WKU lead to 17-14 with just over a minute to pay. FAU was only outscored in the first quarter, trailing 19-16.
2Q
Allen tied the game off a 3-pointer that was cashed in off a lucky bounce. The Owls then took a 21-19 lead on the next possession after Allen hit a jumper. After six lead changes and both teams catching fire from 3-point land, Pleskevich hit back-to-back 3-pointers, as the Owls pulled ahead 32-28 with 4:19 remaining in the half. FAU cruised on a 10-0 run to end the half, which was capped off by Allen knocking down two free throw shots after being fouled behind the 3-point line at the buzzer. WKU failed to score any points in the final four minutes, which helped the Owls take a 42-30 lead. The Owls shot 50 percent (16 of 32) from the field in the first half.
3Q
FAU struggled in the beginning of the third, as WKU began the quarter on a 9-2 run, while the Owls failed to connect from the field (0-7 from the field). Leading now by just five points, Pleskevich found an open Sofia Galeron, who knocked down a 3-pointer to stretch the Owl lead to eight, 47-39. WKU cut FAU’s lead to two with 3:06 left, but Galeron caught fire from the field, scoring on back-to-back possessions on a second-chance layup and her fourth 3-pointer of the night. Allen helped the Owls go up by 10 by securing a takeaway and converting on the other end with a driving layup, but WKU closed out the quarter by scoring six unanswered points. The Owls still held onto a 59-55 lead.
4Q
FAU scored five unanswered points to commence the final quarter of play. The Owls started the frame on a 9-2 run to lead 68-57 with 6:47 remaining in the game, but Allen, Janeta Rozentale and Amber Gaston each had four fouls. The Lady Toppers then began to creep back with the Owls having a tough time converting from the field. WKU scored five unanswered points, but FAU still held onto a 68-62 lead with 1:46 left. With WKU needing to foul, Rozentale and Alexa Zaph knocked down crucial foul shots, but back-to-back Lady Topper 3-pointers cut the Owl lead to three points with nine seconds remaining. Despite the Owls being unable to score a field goal in the final 7:21 in the game, Galeron’s two free throws sealed the deal for a 75-70 FAU victory.
GAME NOTES
- Four Owls tallied double digit numbers in scoring, starting with Allen who led the Owls with 19 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals
- Galeron earned a career night, tallying a career-high 16 points with four 3-pointers, along with six rebounds and two blocks
- Pleskevich logged 12 points and five rebounds
- Gaston scored 10 points, pulled down seven boards and came up with two blocks
- Rozentale pulled down 12 boards and added eight points
- Zaph tallied seven points, while pulling down four boards and leading the team with three assists
- Jabir earned his first win against WKU as FAU’s head coach
- FAU outrebounded WKU, 50-37, marking the third time this season the Owls have pulled down 50+ boards in a game. As the conference’s best offensive rebounding team, FAU also captured 26 offensive boards
- The Owls beat the Lady Toppers at E.A. Diddle Arena for the first time in school history, while breaking a 12-game losing streak against WKU. This also marks this first time FAU has beaten WKU while being opponents in C-USA for the past seven seasons
- FAU captured the first road win of the season, breaking an eight-game away losing streak
FROM COACH JIM
On breaking up the game into four different games:
“It seems we have a tendency to have slumps,” said Jabir. “We wanted to break things up into four different games, so it was a new start and a new game we wanted to win each time. I think it helped us focus a little bit more.”
On four Owls in double digits:
“When we have a good program, it’s because we get contributions from a lot of people. Iggy [Allen] is definitely the best one or two players in our league, but we can’t win games just with Iggy, and today, lots of people stepped up, and that’s the kind of balance we need if we are going to be a successful program.”
On first win against WKU:
“It feels great. Firsts are always nice, and when you work really hard and you come up empty over and over… and I feel like we could have gotten yesterday’s game too if we had some contributions from a lot of different people like we did today, so I think we are getting closer to where we want to be, but we still have a long way to go.”
UP NEXT
The Owls return to Abessinio Court at FAU Arena to face UTSA on Friday, Feb. 12 (5 p.m.) and Saturday, Feb. 13 (2 p.m.). Tickets may be purchased here. All tickets for home games will be delivered digitally on individual mobile devices. Season tickets may be purchased through the ticket office by calling 1-800-FAU-OWLS (866-328-6957) or emailing tickets@fau.edu.
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