1/25/2024 | Women’s Basketball | Box Score
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic Owls (5-13, 0-7 AAC) fourth-quarter rally fell just short after a 40-minute battle against the reigning AAC champion ECU Pirates (11-7, 4-3 AAC) on Thursday at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Owls jumped out to an 8-3 lead to open the contest following an Aniya Hubbard layup and a pair of triples from Mya Perry and Alexa Zaph. The Owls maintained a six-point advantage through the two-minute mark, 15-9, but ECU scored last in the first as Florida Atlantic led 15-11 after the opening period.
Hubbard opened the second with a fastbreak layup to extend the Owls’ lead back to six, 17-11. But the Pirates then scored 10 unanswered to take their first lead of the match, 21-17. The Owls tied it up at 21 at the 3:47-minute mark after a free throw from Janeta Rozentale. Hubbard put the Owls back on top 23-21 before the Pirates tied things up once again at 23 with 3:09 to play in the first half. ECU hit a three to lead 26-23, but the Owls scored four unanswered off a pair of Hubbard free throws and a pull-up jumper for Zaph to take a one-point advantage into the break, 27-26.
The Owls struggled to find an answer to the Pirates in the third quarter as ECU outscored the Owls 31-20 as ECU held a 57-47 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
ECU extended its lead to 15 as the Owls stared down a 66-51 deficit with five minutes to go. The Owls then locked in, mounting a 19-4 run over a four-minute period to tie up the match at 70 following Perry’s fourth triple of the day, however the Pirates scored eight over the final minute of play as the Owls’ fourth quarter rally fell just short, 78-74.
HEAD COACH JENNIFER SULLIVAN POSTGAME THOUGHTS
“Really thought we were going to be able to pull that out. I was really proud of our kids performance in the comeback and their fight. I was a little frustrated with some of the calls down the stretch, but despite that, I thought we had a really good opportunity to win. We needed that bounce after our performance at Memphis. I think that moves us closer to getting in the column of getting that first win in the American. So lots of good individual performances and things we can build on for a quick turnaround going to Wichita.”
NOTES AND TEAM STATS
- Aniya Hubbard led the Owls, tying for a game-high 30 points, marking a new career-high and her first career 30-point performance. Hubbard shot 9-of-13 from the field and a career-best 12-of-13 from the free throw line. She also narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds, in addition to four steals and three assists.
- Mya Perry also posted a double-digit performance, her 12th double-figure performance of the season. Perry turned in 12 points, shooting 4-of-13 from the field and 4-of-11 from 3-point range, and adding a rebound, an assist, and a steal.
- The Owls outscored the Pirates in the first quarter, 15-11, and fourth quarter, 27-21.
- Florida Atlantic also outshot ECU 45.3 percent to 39.7 percent from the field and 34.8 percent to 30 percent from 3-point range.
- The Owls also held a 38- 16 advantage in points off the bench and a 20-13 advantage in fastbreak points.
UP NEXT
The Owls have a short turnaround as they prepare for a road clash against the Wichita State Shockers on Saturday, Jan. 27. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. ET at Charles Koch Arena.
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