BOCA RATON, Fla. – (Jan. 8, 2020) – The Florida Atlantic University women’s basketball team (7-6, 1-1 C-USA) will open up home Conference USA play tomorrow at 7 p.m. against Rice (7-6, 2-0 C-USA). The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ at Abessinio Court at RoofClaim.com Arena.
About the FAU Owls:
FAU has gotten off to a 1-1 start in C-USA play after rolling past UTSA (80-53) and falling to UTEP (96-65) last weekend. The Owls are seeking its first victory over Rice since the 2015 season after dropping the last four contests. Crystal Primm continues to lead the Owls in scoring, averaging 13.7 points per game along with 6.5 rebounds per game and a team’s best 24 steals. Lotta Vehka-Aho follows with 11.1 points per game, while leading the team with 42 assists. Juliette Gauthier is the leading rebounder (7.8 per game), while averaging 10.7 points per game. Head coach Jim Jabir is just three wins away from capturing his 500th career victory.
Last Time Out:
FAU fell on the road to UTEP in a 96-65 decision last Saturday to drop to 1-1 in league play. The Owls had a scoring drought for 8:23 in the first half, allowing the Miners to go on a 19-0 run. Three Owl freshmen reached double digits in scoring. Alexa Zaph led the Owls with 12 points and pulled down five rebounds, which matched a season high. Nikola Ozola tallied 10 points and recorded two assists, while going 5-5 from the charity strike. Tanyia Gordon pushed to double digits with 23 seconds left in the game with a layup to total 10 points and a block in the contest.
Scouting Rice:
Rice was chosen as the preseason favorite in C-USA with 11 first-place votes, as selected by the league’s head coaches.. Erica Ogwumike was selected as the C-USA Preseason Player of the Year after capturing Conference Player of the Year honors a season ago. The senior was picked to the C-USA Preseason Team along with Nancy Mulkey. Rice is coming into Thursday’s tilt with a 7-6 record and are 2-0 in conference play after taking down Marshall (81-43) and WKU (73-65) on opening weekend. Ogwumike leads the team by averaging a near double-double (15.8 ppg and 9.1 rbg). Freshman Lauren Schwartz follows with 9.6 points per game and Mulkey leads the team in blocks, 3.3 per game, which is first in the conference and ninth nationally.
History Against the Rice Owls:
Thursday will mark the seventh meeting between the two teams. FAU is 2-4 against Rice and will look for their first win over the squad since Feb. 21, 2015 when the FAU Owls captured an 82-70 win in Houston. The FAU Owls are 1-2 home and away in the series. Last season, FAU dropped the matchup 63-35 with FAU being outscored 39-8 in the first half. Gauthier had over half of the Owls’ points, scoring 23 and adding two rebounds. Abby Voss captured five points and four boards, while Glenisha Harkless recorded two points, boards and assists, a piece, as well as a block and a team’s best three assists.
Upcoming:
FAU will finish out the homestand on Saturday against North Texas. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at Abessinio Court at RoofClaim.com arena. 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.
