BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic women’s basketball (4-1) held off a late rally to earn a 68-66 win against the Sacred Heart Pioneers to close out the Thanksgiving Classic, 2-0, and earn the team’s fourth win of the season, marking the best start for the Owls since the 2018-19 season.
“It was great to get two wins in our tournament at home,” expressed head coach Jennifer Sullivan. “But then to have a game like this, obviously, you always want to come out and have a comfortable lead and not deal with any adversity. But I think it’s good for our team to have that type of adversity. A possession game down the stretch, and having to get big stops, and we were able to do that. So, I was really proud of them. I think it’s great timing for our team, with momentum going into a stretch going into Christmas. Really proud of the win and proud of the way they executed down the stretch.”
Joiya Maddox knocked down the game-opening jumper to put the Owls on the board first, but Sacred Heart responded on a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the contest at the 7:55-minute mark. The Owls then answered on a pair of layups from Alexa Zaph and Devyn Scott to take the lead back at 6-5. Sacred Heart scored another field goal to lead 7-6, but the Owls then went on a 7-0 scoring run to take a six-point advantage at the opening media timeout. FAU maintained its six-point advantage through a 19-13 lead with a minute remaining in the quarter, but a pair of Pioneer free throws closed out the first, 19-15.
Sacred Heart opened the second with a 3-pointer just 11 seconds into the quarter to cut the FAU lead to one, 19-18, but the Owls locked in to outscore the Pioneers 10-4 over the following four minutes of clock to kick the Owls’ lead back out to seven, 29-22. FAU held an eight-point advantage through the 2:46-minute mark of the second quarter, before a 6-0 Sacred Heart run brought the Pioneers back within two at 35-33, however Jada Moore knocked down a layup with 28 seconds to go in the half to push the Owls lead back to four entering the break, 37-33.
The Owls opened the second half with back-to-back jumpers from Rozentale and Zaph to kick the lead back out to eight at 41-33. FAU maintained a seven-point advantage through the 5:41-minute mark at 47-40, before a 6-1 Sacred Heart run cut the deficit to two at 48-46. The Pioneers got back within one at 51-50 with 30 seconds remaining in the third, but a key foul gave Rozentale a pair of free throws that she knocked down to push FAU’s lead back out to three, 53-50, heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
Joiya Maddox opened the scoring in the fourth with her first three of the game and then Zaph knocked down a layup to push the Owl lead back to eight once again, 58-50. FAU continued to hold a six-point advantage at 64-58 with 4:08 to play, but a 6-0 Pioneer run closed the gap and brought the game even at 64-64 with 1:17 remaining. With 34.2 seconds remaining on the clock, Zaph inbounded the ball to Aniya Hubbard, who knocked down the layup surrounded by Pioneers to put the Owls back in front, 66-64. Sofia Galeron blocked the Pioneers’ leading-scorer Ny’Ceara Pryor and then the Pioneers missed a jumper on the following possession before turning the ball over back to the Owls with just four seconds to play. The Pioneers had to foul the Owls, sending Galeron to the line, who knocked down a pair of free throws to push the Owls lead to two possessions at 68-64. Sacred Heart scored one last layup with less than a second on the clock, but it wasn’t enough as the Owls earned the 68-66 win.
NOTES AND TEAM STATS
- Alexa Zaph led the Owls in the contest, scoring a season-high 20 points, marking the first 20+ point performance for an Owl this season.
- Zaph shot 80 percent on the day (8-of-10), including a 1-of-1 from beyond the arc and going 3-of-4 from the free throw line.
- Janeta Rozentale also had a fantastic performance, scoring a season-high 17 points, shooting 50 percent (6-of-12) from the field and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe, while also tying for the team-lead with seven rebounds in the win
- FAU shot 61.46 percent from the field in the opening half
- The Owls outscored the Pioneers 44-28 in the paint
- FAU also outscored Sacred Heart in second-chance points 14-8
UP NEXT
The Owls will now have a little time off as they prepare to host Kennesaw State for a 7 p.m. tip next Friday, December 2 at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
FOLLOW THE OWLS
For updates, follow @FAUWBB on Twitter and Instagram, or like FAU Women’s Basketball on Facebook.
