11/29/2024 | Women’s Basketball | Box Score
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic women’s basketball extended its home winning streak to four straight on Friday, securing a 65-50 win against the Manhattan Jaspers at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
The Owls improve to 5-2 on the season and Manhattan falls to 5-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Owls started out hot, scoring four unanswered off baskets from Jada Moore and Stefanie Ingram. The Owls continued the momentum into an 8-2 game-opening run, capped off by a layup from Erin Rodgers. The Jaspers answered back off back-to-back scores to cut the Owls’ lead to one, 8-7. The Owls maintained their one-point advantage through a 13-12 lead with 3:18 to play in the first. Erin Rodgers closed out the quarter, netting a layup at the 1:57-minute mark to push the Owls lead back to three after one, 15-12.
Another Rodgers layup and a triple from Mya Perry opened the second, extending the Owls lead to eight, 20-12. Over the next three minutes of clock, Manhattan closed the deficit down to two, 22-20, following an 8-2 run, however, the Owls answered back with a pair of free throws from Ta’Ziah Jenks and another Perry 3-pointer less than 15 seconds later to quickly extend the lead back out to seven, 27-20. Following the media break, both teams locked in defensively as neither team could get a shot to fall through the one-minute mark of the half. Ta’Ziah Jenks scored a layup with 36 seconds remaining in the half to make it 31-22, but Manhattan scored with four seconds to go in the half, making it 31-24 Owls at the break.
Jada Moore got an and-1 to open the third, kicking the Owls lead back out to double-figures, 34-24. Maria Myklebust hit back-to-back triples for the Owls to give Florida Atlantic a 41-28 lead at the third-quarter media timeout. Florida Atlantic and Manhattan battled back-and-forth over the remainder of the third, trading scores before the Owls eventually took an eight-point advantage, 52-44, into the final 10 minutes of play.
The Jaspers struck first in the fourth, cutting the Owls’ lead to six, 52-46, but Florida Atlantic locked in, scoring 13 unanswered through the 4:10-minute mark, taking their largest lead of the day, 65-46, to put the game away. The Jaspers got four back to close out the contest, but it was too little too late, as the Owls eventually captured the 65-50 win.
HEAD COACH JENNIFER SULLIVAN POSTGAME THOUGHTS
“Exciting win. It was nice to be back home after being on the road for two games. I thought we had a great crowd the day after Thanksgiving, which was exciting, and a lot of our parents and friends were here. I thought we did a lot of good things. The game was a little slower in the first half than we would have liked, but I thought we bounced back in the third and fourth quarters to speed it up the way we wanted to and got the dub.”
NOTES AND TEAM STATS
- Four Owls scored double-figures in the win, led by Erin Rodgers with a team-high 14 points, knocking down 50 percent (7-of-14) from the field and going a perfect 4-of-4 from the line. She also added eight boards in the win.
- Mya Perry, Jada Moore, and Maria Myklebust rounded out the Owls’ double-figure scorers, recording 11 points apiece.
- Alana Rouser led the Owls on the glass, tying for a game-high nine rebounds.
- Stefanie Ingram dished out a game-high seven assists.
- Florida Atlantic outscored Manhattan in every quarter, including a 13-6 run over the final 10 minutes of play.
- The Owls outshot the Jaspers 38 percent to 35 percent from the field and 31.8 percent to 25 percent from beyond the arc.
- Florida Atlantic also held advantages in bench points, 27-18, points in the paint, 28-22, and fast break points, 4-0.
UP NEXT
The Owls will close out the Thanksgiving Classic on Sunday against the Austin Peay Governors. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena and on ESPN+.
FOLLOW THE OWLS
For updates, follow @FAUWBB_Hoops on X and @FAUWBB on Instagram, or like Florida Atlantic Women’s Basketball on Facebook.
