Vehka-Aho Tallies Career-High 28 Points in Hard-Fought Loss Against Rice

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University women’s basketball team (7-7, 1-2 C-USA) lost a tough battle against Rice (8-6, 3-0 C-USA) Thursday night, 78-69. The FAU Owls scored 11 more points than Rice gives up on average this season, but FAU fell short in their home conference opener. Freshman Lotta Vehka-Aho tallied a career-high 28 points to lead the Owls of South Florida.

How It Was Decided:

The clash of the Owls started out fast out of the gate with Vehka-Aho recording the Owls’ first five points in the contest. The FAU Owls trailed by three with less than two minutes left in the quarter, but an Astou Gaye 3-pointer tied the game at 15, a piece.

Gaye hit another shot from downtown to open up the second half for FAU. Rice went on a 6-0 run, but with less than five minutes left to go in the first half, Amber Gaston hit a 3-pointer off an assist by Nikola Ozola to make it a 29-25 game. Gaye would then take a shot from beyond the arc to pull the FAU Owls within three, but Rice punched in a layup with time expiring in the quarter to send FAU into the locker room trailing, 36-31.

In the third quarter, Rice cruised on a 7-2 run, making 4-5 field goals, but Vehka-Aho halted the run with her fourth 3-pointer of the game to mark a new career high. Crystal Primm swished a shot from downtown to put FAU within four, but Rice went on a 13-5 run at the end of the third to ride on a 62-51 lead going into the final frame of play.

Foul trouble was an issue for FAU for a major part of the second half with six players posting more than three notes. Although FAU outscored Rice 18-16 in the frame, the FAU Owls would go on to drop the contest, 78-69.

Game Notes:

  • Freshman Vehka-Aho let everyone know that she means business, capturing a career-high 28 points and four 3-pointers, while shooting 11-19 from the field. The Finland product also delivered three assists and matched a career-high four steals, while playing all 40 minutes in the game
  • Primm tallied double digits with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and a block. The graduate student played her third straight game with 3+ steals, recording all three in the first quarter
  • Gaye finished the game with nine points along with a career-high three 3-pointers. The junior also pulled down four boards and a block in the tilt
  • Juliette Gauthier punched in nine points, four rebounds and three assists. Gauthier also recorded a season-high five steals
  • Ozola had four assists and three steals along with three points on the night
  • The FAU Owls had their most steals of the season with 18 in the game

Up Next:

FAU will finish the homestand against North Texas on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Abessinio Court at RoofClaim.com Arena. For tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or buy them here.
 

Owls on Social Media:
For complete coverage of FAU women’s basketball, follow us on Twitter (@FAU_WBB), Instagram (@FAU_WBB) and Facebook (Florida Atlantic Women’s Basketball).

– FAUSports.com –

Florida Atlantic University Athletics:

FAU Athletics is comprised of 21 intercollegiate teams involving 450 student-athletes that compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, volleyball, beach volleyball, cheer and dance. The Owls are a NCAA Division I-A (FBS) institution and compete in Conference USA and the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) (beach volleyball, men’s swimming). The Owls have been playing football since 2001 and are a perfect 3-0 in bowl games, the most recent being a 50-3 victory over Akron in the 2017 Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. The dance team finished its 2014 season No. 8, nationally. FAU cheer won a national championship in 2016. 

About Florida Atlantic University:

Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.