DENTON, Texas – The Florida Atlantic University women’s basketball team (5-19, 1-12 in Conference USA) dropped Thursday evening’s contest at North Texas (13-10, 7-6 in C-USA). FAU was outscored in each of the four quarters to eventually fall 76-45. Rita Pleskevich and Amber Gaston led the way with 10 points each.
HOW IT WAS DECIDED
1Q
The Owls and Mean Green exchanged baskets back and forth three minutes into the game, as the score was tied 4-4. UNT continued to heat it up from the field and took advantage of FAU’s four-minute scoring drought to roll on 6-0 run. With 4:34 remaining in the first quarter, FAU trailed 10-4. FAU was quieted from the field for over five minutes until Pleskevich nailed a mid-range jumper, something she does every game. In the final five minutes of the first, FAU was outscored 9-5 and found themselves down by 10 points with UNT up 19-9 after one quarter.
2Q
UNT opened up the quarter with a 3-pointer to extend its lead to 13. FAU then started to roll, knocking down 4-of-5 field goals to cruise on a 9-3 run. Following a turnaround jumper by Kynadi Kuykendoll, the Owls cut the Mean Green lead to seven, 29-22, with 4:55 left in the first half. FAU then committed turnovers on three consecutive possessions, which allowed UNT to go back ahead by 12. In the final two minutes of the frame, UNT closed things out on an 8-0 run to lead the Owls 42-24 at the intermission. Despite being down by 18, FAU shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of the game.
3Q
The Mean Green splashed their fifth 3-pointer of the contest to score first in the third and extend their lead to 21. UNT then fell in a four minute scoring drought, but FAU was unable to fully take advantage, as the Owls shot 0-for-6 from the field to open up the quarter. Gaston helped the Owls get out of the team’s dry spell from the field to knock down a turnaround jumper, but that was just one of three field goals FAU scored in the third. Overall, FAU was outscored 15-9 in the third frame, as the Owls lagged behind 57-33.
4Q
Both teams exchanged baskets on each of their first few possessions to commence the fourth quarter. After a Gaston layup off a missed 3-pointer, FAU trailed by 23 with 5:22 remaining in the game. FAU continued to struggle getting anything going offensively and following an 8-2 run by UNT, the Owls trailed by 31. The Owls were outscored by the Mean Green 19-12 in the fourth quarter to drop the game 76-45.
GAME NOTES
- Pleskevich logged her 15th double digit scoring game of the year after registering 10 points
- Galeron tallied her 15th consecutive game with a 3-pointer. She ended the night with nine points off 3-for-5 shooting, while adding six rebounds and a season-high three blocks
- Gaston tallied 10 points off 5-for-9 shooting
- Zaph finished the night 4-for-4 from the charity stripe to extend her streak of consecutive free throws made to 18, which stretches back to the Southern Miss game played on Feb. 5
UP NEXT
The Owls will finish out its road trip at Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Feb. 19 for a 3 p.m. tipoff. FAU will be back at home against Old Dominion on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. Tickets for the game can be purchased here or by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
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