BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University women’s basketball team (5-22, 1-15 in Conference USA) dropped its second to last home game of the 2021-22 season to Charlotte (18-8, 14-2 in C-USA) on Saturday afternoon. FAU fell 76-47 and shot 24% compared to the 49ers’ 58% mark. Alexa Zaph led the Owls with 14 points on the afternoon.
HOW IT WAS DECIDED
1Q
Sofia Galeron fed the ball to Rita Pleskevich for a turnaround jumper to get the Owls on the board first. Charlotte then scored six unanswered points, four of them from the free throw line, as FAU trailed 6-2 three minutes into the game. A Janeta Rozentale 3-pointer followed by a Zaph jumper inched the Owls within one, 10-9, with under five remaining in the first quarter, but Charlotte responded with five unanswered points. At the media timeout taken at 3:37, FAU trailed 15-9. FAU broke their two minute scoring drought, as Pleskevich nailed a jumper at the shot clock buzzer. The Owls kept up with Charlotte’s hot 67% shooting from the field in the first, but still trailed 23-15 after one quarter.
2Q
The 49ers opened up the quarter on an 8-0 run, but a Galeron triple gave the Owls their first points of the quarter, as FAU trailed 31-18 with 6:06 left in the frame. Charlotte then went on a 13-4 run, as FAU could not find much going offensively. The Owls were outscored 23-7 in the second quarter, while the 49ers shot 68.0% from the field in the first half. FAU was down 46-22 after two quarters.
3Q
The Owls were outscored by the 49ers 8-4 in the opening 5:04 of the third quarter, with the Owls’ four points being courtesy of free show shots. With 2:45 left in the third, the Owls still hadn’t scored a field goal, tallying an 0-for-10 mark from the field. Out of the media timeout, Rozentale captured the Owls’ first field goal of the second half off a triple, but the Owls still trailed 59-29 in the game. Rozentale tallied five of the Owls’ 11 points in the quarter and FAU fell behind Charlotte 62-33 after three quarters.
4Q
Charlotte’s hot shooting continued into the final quarter with the 49ers making three of their first four field goals in the fourth quarter. The Owls trailed 70-35 with 6:31 left in the game. FAU had no field goals for six minutes until Zaph nailed jumpers on back-to-back possessions. The Owls outscored the 49ers 12-6 in the final six minutes of the game, but ultimately dropped the contest, 76-47.
GAME NOTES
- Zaph shot 6-for-20 for 14 points on the afternoon
- Rozentale followed with eight points and five boards off the bench
- Amber Gaston was just shy of double digits with eight points after shooting 5-for-6 from the free throw line
- Pleskevich pulled down a team’s most six rebounds
- The Owls shot 93.8% from the free throw line (15-for-16)
UP NEXT
The Owls will play their final home game of the 2021-22 season next Wednesday, March 2, as the team hosts FIU for Senior Night at 6 p.m. Tickets for the game can be purchased here or by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
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