Owls Roll Past Chicago State in Home-Opener, 80-57

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic Owls (2-1) opened up their 2023-24 home season, earning a dominant 23-point win, 80-57, against the Chicago State Cougars (0-5) on Friday at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Evie Van Der Woude got the Owls started with a layup 13 seconds into the contest, 2-0. Chicago responded to take the lead, 5-2, but Mya Perry knocked down the Owls first from deep to bring things even at five. Following a 7-7 tie, the Owls broke things open, outscoring the Cougars 12-2 to extend the Owls’ advantage to double-figures, 19-9, at the 1:14-minute mark of the first. The Owls maintained a nine-point advantage as the first eventually came to an end at 22-13.

The Owls and the Cougars battled back-and-forth to open the second, as the Owls continued to lead by 11, 32-21, through the 6:44-minute mark. The Owls then produced an 8-0 run to extend their advantage to 19 with 3:10 to play in the half. Chicago State scored on a layup, but the Owls got a layup of their own from Janeta Rozentale to close out the half as the Owls took a 19-point advantage, into the break, 42-23.

Florida Atlantic scored four unanswered to open the second half, extending the Owls lead to 23, 46-23. However, Chicago State battled back over the remainder of the third, going on a 19-6 run to cut the Owls’ lead to just 10 entering the final quarter of play, 52-42.

However, that was as close as the Cougars would get. The Owls locked in over the final 10 minutes of play, outscoring the Cougars by their largest margin of the game, 28-15, to seal the Owls’ 23-point home-opening win, 80-57.

NOTES AND TEAM STATS

Aniya Hubbard, Janeta Rozentale, and Alexa Zaph all registered double-digit performances in the win.
Hubbard surpassed 500 career points in contest, surpassing the career milestone with her first bucket of the fourth quarter.
Hubbard posted her third 20-point performance of the season, scoring a game-leading 24 points, shooting 63 percent (10-of-16) from the field, 50 percent (1-of-2) from 3-point range, and going 3-of-5 from the free throw line.
Rozentale posted her first double-double of the season, pulling down a game-high 13 boards, and posting 10 points on 67 percent (4-of-6) from the field.
Alexa Zaph had her best performance of the young season, turning in 10 points on 33 percent (2-of-6) from the field and 86 percent (6-of-7) from the charity stripe.
The Owls dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Cougars 47-36, including a huge 34-19 advantage on the defensive glass.
Florida Atlantic was also very efficient with their opportunities, outshooting Chicago State 50 percent to 33 percent from the floor, and 41 percent to 14 percent from beyond the arc.
The Owls dominated the paint, outscoring the Cougars 42-20 in the post.
Florida Atlantic also finished in transition, outscoring Chicago State 18-6 in fastbreak points, as well as 15-11 in points off turnovers.
The Owls bench also flexed its muscles as Florida Atlantic’s reserves outscored Chicago State’s bench 37-9.