Owls shine in 15-point win over UTSA

Aniya Hubbard led the Owls with her fourth 20+ point performance of the season

Next Game:

UTEP

1/21/2023 | 2 p.m.

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic Owls (11-6, 4-4 C-USA) bounced back in a big way, cruising to a 15-point win, 81-66, against the UTSA Roadrunners (4-13, 2-6 C-USA) on Thursday evening inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Aniya Hubbard opened the game with a 3-pointer to give FAU the opening 3-0 lead. The Roadrunners responded to score six and take their first lead of the night, 6-3, but a quick 5-2 run for the Owls brought things back even at 8-8 with 3:31 remaining in the first. UTSA evened things once more at 10-10, but the Owls outscored the Roadrunners 10-2 over the final three minutes of the period to hold an eight-point advantage entering the second, 20-12.

UTSA opened the second on a run, cutting into the FAU lead on an 11-4 run to bring the Owls’ lead down to one over the first three minutes of the second, 24-23. The Owls’ counter punched over the next three-minutes of clock, mounting an 13-2 run, capped off by a fastbreak jumper from Hubbard, to kick the lead back out to double figures, 37-25, with 3:21 remaining in the half. The Roadrunners got five back after a 7-2 run over the final three minutes of the half that sent the teams into the break with FAU leading by seven, 39-32.

The Roadrunners opened the second half on a 4-2 run over the first two minutes to cut the FAU lead back down to five, 41-36, however back-to-back layups from Amber Gaston and Joiya Maddox quickly kicked the FAU lead back out to nine with 5:55 remaining in the third. The Owls continued to hold an eight-point advantage, 47-39, at the 3:45-minute mark, but a 10-2 run closed out the third to push the Owls to a 16-point lead entering the final 10 minutes of play, 57-41.

The Owls continued to add to their lead, outscoring the Roadrunners 19-12 to extend their lead to the largest of the game at 23, 76-53, with just over three minutes remaining in the contest. UTSA produced a 13-5 run to close out the contest, but it was just too little too late as FAU captured the 81-66 win.

QUOTABLE

“I think it’s just huge for our team, our team needed that. Not the win per se, but to play well for four quarters,” said head coach Jennifer Sullivan. “That was the exciting piece for us. We know we are doing a lot of good things, it’s just a matter of putting it all together, with a lot of new pieces, and people in and out of the lineups. It was very exciting for our group to put it all together for four quarters.”

NOTES AND TEAM STATS

Aniya Hubbard had a big night, posting her fourth 20+ point performance of the season to lead the Owls’ three double-figure scorers.
Hubbard finished with a team-high 21 points, shooting 42 percent (5-of-12) from the field and 75 percent (9-of-12) from the line. She also pulled down four rebounds, collected a team-high four steals, and tying for the team lead with three assists on the night.
Sofia Galeron finished with a team second-best 12 points, connecting on 57 percent (4-of-7) from 3-point range, while also collecting five boards and dishing out three assists.
Joiya Maddox rounded out the Owls double-digit scorers with 11 points, shooting 44 percent (4-of-9) from the field and going 75 percent (3-of-4) at the charity stripe, in addition to adding four rebounds and a pair of assists.
Amber Gaston pulled down a team-best six rebounds against the Roadrunners.
The Owls dominated in points off the bench, outscoring the Roadrunners 46-16.
FAU also outscored UTSA in second-chance opportunities, 15-12, points in the paint, 26-20, and fastbreak points, 19-16.
The Owls did most of their damage in the first and third quarters, outscoring the Roadrunners 20-12 and 18-9 in those periods, respectively.