| 3/6/2024 | Women’s Basketball | Box Score PHILADELPHIA – The Florida Atlantic Owls (11-18, 6-12 AAC) fell in their regular season finale against the Temple Owls (19-11, 13-5 AAC), dropping a 74-53 contest on the road Wednesday inside the Liacouras Center. HOW IT HAPPENED Dyllan Hanna struck first for the Owls, however, Temple scored six unanswered to take their first lead of the day, 6-2. Alexa Zaph hit the Owls first triple of the day to keep things within one, 6-5. The Owls trailed 9-5 before a Devyn Scott jumper and Maria Myklebust’s first 3-pointer of the day pushed the Owls back in front, 10-9 with 3:09 remaining in the first. However, the Owls’ struggled over the final three minutes of the first as Temple went on an 11-2 run to lead by eight after the first, 20-12. The Owls kept battling in the second, holding the lead to just nine, 26-17, with 6:00 remaining in the opening half, but Temple scored six unanswered through the 1:54-minute mark to extend its lead to 15, 32-17. The Owls got five back off a triple from Allie Tylka and a pair of free throws from Janeta Rozentale, but Temple close the opening half with a 3-point basket to put the Owls at a 13-point deficit entering the locker room, 35-22. Florida Atlantic struggled to find rhythm in the third quarter. Temple maintained a 15-point lead, 49-35, with 4:12 to go in the third before Jada Moore knocked down a jumper and a 3-pointer to cut the Owls back within 10, 49-39, but Temple closed the quarter on a 5-0 run to kick the deficit back out to 15 entering the final 10 minutes of play, 54-39. The Owls continued to battle in the fourth, staying within 12, 65-53, after a triple from Alexa Zaph and a fastbreak jumper from Aniya Hubbard with 3:19 to play. But the Owls just couldn’t get anything else to fall as Temple scored nine unanswered to close out the contest and take the 74-53 win. HEAD COACH JENNIFER SULLIVAN POSTGAME THOUGHTS “Really tough game. Credit to Temple, they’re cutting down nets after they split the title with North Texas and Tulsa after that win, so credit to them. Just disappointed, I thought we had opportunities to cut it and get it within eight. Starting off the game, we just couldn’t take care of the basketball. They are really physical, especially on the perimeter, tried their best to take away our point guard. Just couldn’t take care of the ball and transition defense down the stretch, so things we know we can clean up and do better, but just weren’t able to do it throughout the game. But again credit to them, I thought the really went after us and we got rattled. Tried to find groups and lineups to get us settled, and really just couldn’t find any rhythm throughout the game.” NOTES AND TEAM STATS Janeta Rozentale secured her 800th career rebound against Temple Aniya Hubbard and Alexa Zaph led the Owls in the contest, scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively Dyllan Hanna led the Owls on the boards, collecting a team-high eight rebounds Jada Moore dished out a team-leading four assists, while Hubbard posted a team-high two steals in the contest Florida Atlantic outshot Temple 50 percent to 42.1 percent from beyond the arc and also held a 13-6 advantage in second-chance points. UP NEXT Florida Atlantic will now prepare for postseason play as they get ready to face off against the No. 12-seeded Wichita State Shockers in the opening round of the AAC Tournament on Saturday, March 9. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. ET at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. FOLLOW THE OWLS For updates, follow @FAUWBB_Hoops on X and @FAUWBB on Instagram, or like Florida Atlantic Women’s Basketball on Facebook. |
