BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University women’s basketball team (5-20, 1-13 in Conference USA) is set to host Old Dominion (20-6, 10-4 in C-USA) for the Play4Kay Game sponsored by Lynn Cancer Institute Baptist Health on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at Abessinio Court at FAU Arena.
ABOUT THE OWLS
- FAU hosts Old Dominion on Thursday in the Owls’ final stretch of regular season C-USA games
- Rita Pleskevich and Janeta Rozentale lead the Owls with 11.5 points per game each
- Rozentale has a team’s most 8.6 rebounds per game
- Kynadi Kuykendoll leads the way with 2.8 assists per game (70 total)
- FAU has four Owls averaging double digits in scoring (Pleskevich, Rozentale, Amber Gaston and Alexa Zaph)
- Jennifer Sullivan leads the Owls in her first season at the helm
- FAU stands No. 4 in free throw percentage (.730) and fifth in fewest fouls (389) in C-USA
- Zaph earned a huge milestone of capturing 10 assists at Southern Miss (2/5/22), becoming the first player since 2017 to tally 10+ dimes in a game. She was also the first player since 2004 to shoot at least 10 free throws and be 100% from the line after going 11-for-11 from the charity stripe vs. WKU (2/10/22)
LAST TIME OUT
- The Owls dropped its game at Middle Tennessee on Saturday afternoon, 72-49
- MT nailed 13 3-pointers, with 11 of those coming in the first half, which was hard for the Owls to match
- Zaph led the Owls with 16 points, while extending her streak of consecutive free throws made to 22
- Pleskevich registered 13 points
- Bre Beck matched a season-high seven points off the bench
SCOUTING ODU
- ODU was projected to finish second with six first-place votes in in the C-USA Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league’s head coaches
- ODU saw three of its players earn a spot on the eight-person C-USA Preseason Team, taking up almost half of all spots. Iggy Allen, Ajah Wayne and Amari Young were tabbed to the team
- The Monarchs are third in the C-USA East with a 10-4 league mark, 20-6 overall
- Allen leads the Monarchs with 14.5 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game
- Wayne is having another solid season with 13.3 points and 5.8 boards per game
- Mariah Adams has a team’s most 101 assists to average out to 4.2 per game
- ODU leads the league in scoring defense (54.19) and turnover margin (+5.73)
SERIES HISTORY VS. MONARCHS
- The Owls enter the series against the Monarchs, trailing 0-13
- FAU is looking for its first win over the Monarchs program
- The first game played between these two teams was on Jan. 18, 2014, the first year both programs joined C-USA. FAU lost 80-44
- FAU has been close to knocking off the Monarchs for the first time in recent years after just being edged out by ODU 77-72 in 2021 and losing 68-64 in 2019
- FAU and ODU faced one another in mid-January, which resulted in a 61-48 defeat for the Owls in Norfolk, Virginia. The Owls led the Monarchs 39-38 after the third quarter, but ODU outscored the Owls 23-9 in the fourth. Zaph led the Owls with 14 points, Sofia Galeron captured a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Rozentale notched double digits with 12
AN OWL WIN MEANS
- The team will snap a seven-game overall losing streak
- FAU will beat ODU for the first time in school history, while snapping a 13-game losing skid to the Monarchs
- The team will earn its first win in the month of February
UPCOMING
FAU is set to host Charlotte on Saturday for a noon tipoff at Abessinio Court at FAU Arena. Tickets for the game can be purchased here or by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
OWLS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
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