BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Florida Atlantic University women’s basketball team (4-12, 0-5 in Conference USA) dropped its seventh straight game on Thursday afternoon, falling to league unbeaten WKU (13-4, 6-0 in C-USA), 73-49. Despite the Owls’ hot start, FAU had difficulties getting past the Lady Toppers’ press, turning the ball over 23 times. Sofia Galeron led the Owls with nine points, while FAU’s lone true freshman in Simona Henshaw followed with a career-high eight points.
HOW IT WAS DECIDED
1Q
FAU came out of the gate with a vengeance, starting the game on a 10-2 run. Just five minutes into the game, Alexa Zaph led the way with five points. Prior to the media timeout, WKU made back-to-back baskets on consecutive possessions, but the Owls still led the way halfway through the first, 10-6. While the Owls struggled to make a field goal for over six minutes, FAU delivered points seven through 15 from the free throw line, going 8-for-10 from the charity stripe to begin the game. WKU went on a 6-0 run to take a one-point lead off a 3-pointer, but a Galeron triple at the buzzer helped the Owls retake the lead, 18-16, after the first.
2Q
WKU scored four unanswered layups to regain the lead, 24-20, three minutes into the second quarter. The Owls committed four turnovers in three minutes, but then started to settle down, as Henshaw tied the game at 27 with a layup with just under five left before the intermission. WKU then went on a 4-0 run to lead once again. As Janeta Rozentale fell in foul trouble early, Henshaw stepped it up, knocking down a 3-pointer for her eighth point, as the Owls trailed 31-30. WKU ended the quarter on a 10-2 run, which included a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, as FAU trailed at the half, 41-32.
3Q
WKU opened up the second half by draining two 3-pointers to take a 15-point lead. Nikola Ozola then scored the Owls’ first points of the second half with a jumper and followed that up a few minutes later with a layup following a steal, as WKU was in a scoring drought for three minutes. The Lady Toppers went cold from the field, unable to score points from scrimmage for over five minutes, but then WKU drained a 3-pointer to extend their lead to 52-38 with 1:46 remaining in the third quarter. The Owls were outscored 12-6 in the quarter to trail 53-38.
4Q
Allie Tylka knocked down a 3-pointer just 16 seconds into the fourth quarter and the Owls trailed by 12, 53-41. WKU went on to outscore the Owls 20-11 in the quarter, while FAU shot 18.8% from the field. FAU was unable to come up with the second half comeback, falling to the Lady Toppers on the road, 73-49.
GAME NOTES
- Galeron led the Owls with nine points, as well as seven rebounds and two steals. She had her seventh consecutive game with a trey
- Henshaw had the best performance of her young career, scoring a career-high eight points off the bench. She also tallied three boards and two steals across a career-high 24 minutes played
- Rozentale had seven points and five boards
- Ozola logged six points and Tylka delivered a season-high seven points off the bench
- Kuykendoll registered five assists, her fourth game this season with 5+ dimes
SULLIVAN’S STATEMENTS
Opening Statement:
“We lost. It was a rough stretch for us, we had a lot of turnovers, which obviously hurt us, and then the boards and not being able to get up as many shots as they were,” said head coach Jennifer Sullivan. “At times, I thought we started the game out really well, but the game kind of got away from us toward the end of the second. We were just never able to bounce back.”
On the turnovers:
“That’s on us. We have seen presses now for the last few weeks and just being able to be confident with the basketball and being handle changes in defenses, and that’s what they do. [WKU] is one of the top teams in our league and can force teams into turnovers and that was an area we wanted to focus on. We will continue to work on it and get better.”
UP NEXT
The Owls will wrap up their three-game road trip at Marshall on Saturday, Jan. 22 for a 1 p.m. tipoff. FAU will be back home to face UTEP on Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. Tickets for the game can be purchased here or by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
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