BOCA RATON, Fla. – (Jan. 10, 2020) – The Florida Atlantic University women’s basketball team (7-7, 1-2 C-USA) will receive a visit from North Texas (7-8, 1-2 C-USA) to close out the first Conference USA homestand of the season. Tipoff is set for tomorrow at 2 p.m. at Abessinio Court at RoofClaim.com Arena.
About the Owls:
FAU has started out 1-2 in C-USA play and looks to bounce back from a 78-69 loss against Rice Thursday night. The Owls are hoping to snap UNT’s four-game winning streak over FAU, with the Owls’ last win over UNT coming on Feb. 20, 2016 in a 71-61 feat in Boca Raton. Crystal Primm continues to lead the Owls in scoring, averaging 13.6 points per game along with 6.4 rebounds per game and a team’s best 27 steals. Lotta Vehka-Aho follows with 12.3 points per game, while leading the team with 45 assists. Juliette Gauthier is the leading rebounder (7.6 per game), while averaging 10.5 points per game. Head coach Jim Jabir is just three wins away from capturing his 500th career victory.
Last Time Out:
FAU dropped the battle of the Owls Thursday night, 78-69. The FAU Owls trailed Rice 36-31 at halftime, but a strong third quarter conducted by Rice and foul trouble of FAU’s end made a comeback difficult to execute. Rice has held opponents to 54.9 points on average all season long with FAU exceeding that by a little over 14 points. Freshman Lotta Vehka-Aho had herself a night, tallying a career-high 28 points and four 3-pointers, while shooting 11-19 from the field. Vehka-Aho delivered three assists, matched a career-high four steals and played all 40 minutes in the contest. Crystal Primm recorded 12 points, four rebounds, two assists, a block and three steals. Juliette Gauthier also totaled a season-high five steals with FAU recording 18 total swipes on the night, the most of the season.
Scouting North Texas:
North Texas was chosen to finish seventh in the 2019 C-USA Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Anisha George leads the Mean Green, averaging 12.4 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per game. The senior also has a team’s best 21 blocks. Destinee McDowell is having a notable freshman year, averaging 11.1 points and 7.2 boards per game. McDowell also leads the team in steals with 36. UNT is the best rebounding team in C-USA, pulling down 43.5 boards per game. The Mean Green also post the fourth best scoring defense in the conference, holding opponents to 57.9 points per game and a 36.0 shooting percentage.
History Against the Mean Green:
North Texas and FAU will take the court for the 17th time on Saturday. The two teams were previous opponents in the Sun Belt Conference before moving over to C-USA. The Owls hold a 9-7 advantage over the Mean Green along with a 3-2 home record. Last season, FAU fell to North Texas in Denton, 82-62. Amber Gaston punched in a career-high 21 points in the tilt along with four rebounds and a block. Abby Voss came off the bench delivering five points, four rebounds and two steals.
Upcoming:
FAU will hit the road next week to face Middle Tennessee on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. The Owls will return to Abessinio Court at RoofClaim.com arena on Thursday, Jan. 23 to face Charlotte at 7 p.m. For tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit fausports.com.
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).
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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.
