BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic women’s basketball (9-2, 2-0 C-USA) countered a late North Texas Mean Green (3-8, 1-0 C-USA) rally to earn the Owls second Conference USA win and ninth overall victory of the season on Thursday at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
“It’s exciting. We talked a lot about going into conference play and what that means, and I think a game like this is a really good test for us to see how we can do for 40 minutes,” said head coach Jennifer Sullivan. “Obviously both teams made a lot of runs, and to come out on the other side of it for this team was a really encouraging sign for us throughout the season.”
Aniya Hubbard had another stellar performance on Thursday night, topping her previous performance with a new career-high 23 points, shooting 56 percent (10-of-18) from the field and 50 percent (1-of-2) from 3-point range. She also added five assists, five steals, and a pair of rebounds. Alexa Zaph also posted a double-digit performance, scoring 11 points, including 67 percent (4-of-6) from the field, and pulling down a season-high five boards, and dishing out three assists and collecting three steals. Jada Moore led the Owls in rebounds, tying a season-best seven boards in the win.
North Texas took the early lead, opening the contest on a 6-2 run through the first four minutes of play. FAU responded with five unanswered points over the next two minutes of clock off a Zaph free throw and back-to-back field goals from Hubbard to give the Owls their first lead of the contest at 7-6. FAU maintained the one-point advantage at 10-9 at the 3:13-minute mark, but a 3-0 North Texas run closed the opening period, 10-12.
The Owls battled the Mean Green to a 19-18 lead through the first four minutes of the second quarter, before the Owls produced a 9-2 run, capped off by the Owls’ first 3-pointer of the contest from Joiya Maddox to five FAU an eight-point advantage, 28-20, with three minutes to play. However North Texas closed the half with seven unanswered to cut into the Owls’ lead and cut the deficit to just a point heading into the locker room, 28-27.
FAU opened the second half outscoring North Texas 11-4 to kick the Owls lead back out to eight, 39-31, at the 5:26-minute mark of the third quarter. The Mean Green then countered with six unanswered yet again to cut the FAU lead down to just three, 42-39, with 23 seconds in the third, however a buzzer-beating three from Maddox closed out the period to push the FAU lead back out to six with 10 minutes left in the contest, 45-39.
The Owls maintained the momentum into the fourth quarter, outscoring the Mean Green 17-10 to push the FAU lead out to its largest of the contest at 13, 62-49. But as was the trend of the contest, North Texas attempted to rally over the final three minutes of play, holding the Owls to just one field goal as the Mean Green produced a 12-2 run to cut the lead to just one possession with 30 seconds left, but the Owls impressive defense held on to close out the game with a North Texas turnover and a pair of Zaph free throws sealed the Owls’ 66-61 victory.
NOTES AND TEAM STATS
- Aniya Hubbard had a career night, posting her second consecutive 20+ point game of her career and the Owls third 20+ point performance of the season against the Mean Green. It also marked the sixth double-digit performance of the young freshman’s career.
- Hubbard scored a career-best 23 points, shooting 56 percent (10-of-18) from the field and 50 percent (1-of-2) from 3-point range.
- Hubbard posted a new career-best five steals and tied a career-best with five assists.
- Alexa Zaph posted her fifth double-digit performance of the season, scoring 11 points, including 67 percent (4-of-6) from the field, and pulling down five boards, and dishing out three assists and adding a season-best three steals.
- Jada Moore pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
- The Owls outscored the Mean Green 40-28 in the paint and 19-13 in fastbreak opportunities.
- FAU also had great contributions from the bench, outscoring North Texas 21-6 on points off the bench.
UP NEXT
Following the new year, the Owls will hit the road for their first C-USA road trip of the season, heading to Birmingham, Alabama to face off against the UAB Blazers on Jan. 5 for a 7 p.m. tip inside Bartow Arena.
FOLLOW THE OWLS
For updates, follow @FAUWBB on Twitter and Instagram, or like FAU Women’s Basketball on Facebook.
