| 12/21/2024 | Women’s Basketball | Box Score PHOENIX – The Florida Atlantic Owls wrapped up non-conference play on Saturday, earning a dominant 68-52 win over the Wright State Raiders inside Global Credit Union Arena. The Owls improve to 8-5, and Wright State falls to 2-11 on the season. HOW IT HAPPENED Alana Rouser struck first for the Owls, but Wright State answered back with back-to-back buckets to take the 5-2 lead. Ta’Ziah Jenks brought things even at 5-5, before giving the Owls the lead back off her first triple of the day, making it 8-7 at the 6:13-minute mark of the first. Wright State retook the lead, but Jada Moore drew the foul and knocked down a pair of free throws to put the Owls back in front, 10-9. Following a five-point Owl advantage, 16-11, the Raiders scored to cut things down to three, 16-13, but a layup from Mya Perry and a jumper from Evie Van Der Woude extended the Owls’ lead to seven after the opening frame, 20-13. The Owls maintained their momentum into the second quarter, scoring 15 unanswered points to push their run to 19-0 through the 5:34-minute mark, making it a 22-point lead at 35-13. Wright State closed out the half on a 10-4 run, but the Owls took a 16-point advantage into the halftime break, 39-23. Florida Atlantic pushed its lead to 18, 43-25, at the 5:36-minute mark after a layup from Stefanie Ingram. However, the Raiders rallied again to close out the third, going on a 13-6 run, but the Owls still maintained a double-figure advantage, 49-38, heading into the final 10 minutes of play. Jada Moore knocked down a pair of free throws, in addition to stealing the ball and feeding Mya Perry in transition for the layup to score four unanswered to open the fourth, 53-38. The Raiders responded on a 6-2 run to close back within 11, 55-44, at the 7:00-minute mark, but back-to-back buckets from Moore, and a pair of layups from Jenks and Lovisa Askbrink Hose, gave the Owls eight unanswered points to push the lead back to 19, 63-44, essentially putting the game away. Jenks connected on her second 3-pointer of the day, and another layup from Moore extended the Owls’ lead back to 20, 68-48. Wright State got four back over the final two minutes of play, but the Owls’ sizable lead was too much to overcome as Florida Atlantic took the 68-52 win. HEAD COACH JENNIFER SULLIVAN POSTGAME THOUGHTS “Exciting win, always great to get a win before you go into the Christmas break. Just really excited about a lot of players stepping up big. We talked a lot about our defense this game, being really solid on the defensive end, and I thought we did that, holding them to just 23 points in the first half. We had a couple of lulls there in the second half, but overall, we were just really pleased with our performance. Also, being able to shoot 44 percent from the field was huge as well. Just really excited about this group and looking forward to conference play.” NOTES AND TEAM STATS Jada Moore led the way for the Owls, tying a season-high 20 points, shooting 53 percent from the field, and a perfect 100 percent (4-of-4) at the line. She also added seven boards, four assists, two steals, and a block in the win. Mya Perry was the Owls’ other double-figure scorer, shooting 47 percent (8-of-17) from the field, and also finishing a perfect 100 percent (2-of-2) at the line. She also tallied two boards, two blocks, an assist, and a steal on the day. Ta’Ziah Jenks tied for a game-high eight rebounds to lead the Owls, while also tallying nine points. Stefanie Ingram dished out a game-leading six assists and finished with seven points. Florida Atlantic held advantages in every quarter but the third, outscoring the Raiders 20-13 in the first, 19-10 in the second, and 19-14 in the third. The Owls also outshot the Raiders 43.8 percent to 31.7 percent from the field, while also holding advantages in paint points, 40-30, fastbreak points, 19-8, and second-chance points, 15-4. Florida Atlantic also dominated on the glass, outrebounding Wright State 45-33, including a nine-rebound advantage on the defensive glass, 34-25. UP NEXT Following the holiday break, the Owls will get set to open up AAC play at home, welcoming the Tulane Green Wave on Sunday, Dec. 29 for a 2 p.m. tip at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena. FOLLOW THE OWLS For updates, follow @FAUWBB_Hoops on X and @FAUWBB on Instagram, or like Florida Atlantic Women’s Basketball on Facebook. |
