BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University women’s basketball team (5-13, 1-6 in Conference USA) broke an eight-game losing streak by pulling out a huge league win over UTEP (12-6, 4-4 in C-USA) on Thursday night, 54-52. With the game tied at 52 with under 43 seconds left, Alexa Zaph delivered the go-ahead basket to elevate the Owls ahead in a contest that saw seven lead changes and nine ties. Rita Pleskevich logged one of the best performances of her career with a career-high 21 points, as head coach Jennifer Sullivan earned her first league win as a head coach.
HOW IT WAS DECIDED
1Q
Kynadi Kuykendoll got the Owls started with a layup off a third-chance opportunity. UTEP then made three of their next four field goals to lead the Owls 9-4. Sofia Galeron would respond with a triple, marking her ninth consecutive game with a 3-pointer, and the Owls made it a two-point game. Just before the media timeout, UTEP responded with a jumper, as FAU trailed UTEP 11-7 halfway through the quarter. Pleskevich then tied the game and two Nikola Ozola free throws gave the Owls the lead back, 13-11, with under three minutes left in the first quarter. The game tied two more times until FAU retook the lead after making three of five free throws in the final minute of the frame, which included two by Zaph who was fouled on a halfcourt shot attempt with 0.8 seconds on the clock. FAU led 18-15 in the first quarter.
2Q
Pleskevich knocked down a 3-pointer to hand the Owls their largest lead of six. FAU then fell in a scoring drought for over three minutes while shooting 0-for-6 from the field, giving UTEP the opportunity to retie the game off two free throws. Pleskevich helped the Owls get out of the drought by burying a 3-pointer for the Owls to go back ahead, but the lead did not last long, as UTEP tied the game for the sixth time and eventually took the lead. Pleskevich delivered all of the eight points for FAU in the quarter, but after UTEP ended the frame in a two-minute scoring drought, FAU trailed by just two, 28-26, at the halftime break.
3Q
UTEP opened up the quarter on a 7-2 run, but a wide open Amber Gaston under the basket inched the Owls closer to the Miners after a slow start in the third. FAU lagged behind 38-32 at the media timeout. The Miners were held without a field goal for the remaining four minutes of the third quarter, but FAU struggled to take advantage of that. FAU was merely outscored by the Miners, 12-9 in the frame and were down by five, 40-35, going into the final 10 minutes of play.
4Q
Just under two minutes into the fourth quarter, UTEP’s Destiny Thurman committed a technical foul, her fifth foul of the game, forcing her to sit the rest of the contest. Following the technical, FAU went on a 7-0 run, which was sparked by a 3-point play by Rozentale. Galeron’s 3-pointer capped off the run, as FAU led 43-40 with 7:18 left in the game. UTEP inched up on the Owls by going on a 4-0 run to retake the lead, but that didn’t last for long, as a Pleskevich jumper put the Owls ahead, 47-44. After UTEP tied the game at 47, the Owls scored three unanswered points off a Gaston free throw and a driving layup by Kuykendoll to lead 50-47. UTEP made it a one-point game off two free throws with 2:27 left, but Pleskevich stepped up once again. After being fouled under the basket, Pleskevich knocked down both free throws, as the Owls led 52-49 at the 1:17 mark.
Out of a Miner timeout, UTEP drew up a play to cut the FAU lead to one with 1:01 remaining in the game. An Owl turnover off a heldball on the next possession would eventually send UTEP back to the line. UTEP made just one of the two shots to give the game its ninth tie with 43 seconds left in the game. Out of an FAU timeout, Zaph received a pass from Kuykendoll and drove to the basket for a layup just before the shot clock expired for what would be the go-ahead bucket. UTEP had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead with 12 seconds remaining. On UTEP’s final possession, Gaston stepped up defensively, as the Miners had to force something up. Pleskevich made the defensive rebound with the game clock expiring to seal the 54-52 win for FAU.
GAME NOTES
- Pleskevich registered a career-high 21 points off 7-for-19 shooting, which also marked the first 20+ point game in her career
- Rozentale followed with eight points and 10 boards. Her 10 rebounds signified her sixth game with 10+ rebounds this year
- In her first game back after missing the previous four contests, Gaston logged six points and eight boards off the bench
- Galeron extended her streak with most consecutive games with a 3-pointer to nine after knocking down two from beyond the arc
- Zaph’s game-winning shot was a part of her five points
- FAU logged 17 of their points off UTEP turnovers
SULLY’S STATEMENTS
On breaking eight-game losing streak:
“I’m super excited for our girls. Obviously it’s rough on coaches when you lose, but you are built to handle through the storm,” said Sullivan. “You have to keep on telling the girls to believe and [they are] right there, and for them to find a way to pull this out, I’m so happy for and proud of them.”
On Gaston’s return:
“She had a great defensive stop at the end when [Zaph] fell down, she had to pick up her man, so she was phenomenal. You expect some rust [after four games off], but she was able to be in the game in the fourth quarter, which is huge.”
On the team’s 19-point fourth quarter:
“We really preached a lot this week in film [that] we have such great kids, but sometimes when you have sweet, kind girls, they are so selfless and want to pass and help out a teammate, and we had to tell them to get a little more selfish and look to go score. We watched a lot of film this week and opportunities we had to score, and I thought they were really aggressive. Rita [Pleskevich] shot 19 shots, and she is probably upset about that right now because she doesn’t like shooting that much, but she did it and we needed her to do it. That was huge for us. It gives us more offensive production and I think our mentality was a little different going into the fourth.”
UP NEXT
FAU is set to close out the homestand on Saturday, Jan. 29, as the Owls face UTSA for a 2 p.m. tipoff. The game also represents the Owls’ National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration. Tickets for the game can be purchased here or by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
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