Florida Atlantic University Athletics
FAU Women's Basketball Opens Up Home Play Monday Night
11/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2008
Georgia Southern at Florida Atlantic
Monday, November 17 - FAU Arena
Boca Raton, FL - 7:00 p.m. ET
HOME OPENER: Under the direction of tenth-year head coach Chancellor Dugan; Florida Atlantic University opens up the home portion of the 2008-09 women's basketball season against Georgia Southern. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. eastern.
THE SERIES: Georgia Southern leads the series overall 2-0. The last time the two teams met was on November 22, 2002, when the Eagles defeated the Owls to open up the season at the Marshall University Classic in Huntington, WV 75-57.
OWLS IN HOME OPENERS: FAU has fared well when opening up at "The Burrow". The Owls all-time are 15-9 in home openers. Last season the Owls defeated Palm Beach Atlantic in their first game on the home floor 80-46, getting an impressive game from Jaimie Givens, who notched a double-double, 20 points and 12 rebounds in just her second career game.
RADIO/INTERNET: Live play-by-play audio will be accessible free of charge on FAU's official athletics website (www.fausports.com). Steve Bishop will call the action on Monday night. The pre-game show begins at 6:45 p.m. ET.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC OWLS: Florida Atlantic began the 2008-09 season with a 90-45 loss to No. 17/19 Baylor on Friday night in Waco, Texas. The Owls struggled from the field, only making 26 percent of their field goal attempts (17-63). They also couldn't keep the Lady Bears off the boards, as Baylor corralled 70 rebounds (28 of them offensive) to the Owls 33. Freshman Breana Turner (New Orleans, LA/De La Salle HS) was the lone FAU player in double-figures; she came off the bench to score 14 points, most of them coming late in the first half. Carla Stubbs (Miami, FL/Jackson HS) also did not start, but hit both of the FAU's made three-point baskets en route to scoring seven points. Mercedes Thompson (Boca Raton, FL/Spanish River HS) also came off the bench to lead FAU in rebounds with six.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN EAGLES: Georgia Southern began the year with a 93-44 win over NAIA team Brewton-Parker College on Saturday. They return four starters from last year's team which finished 13-5 in the Southern Conference and 17-13 overall. Despite losing their two leading scorers from last year, the Eagles do have plenty of returning depth, led by senior Ashley Melson, who averages just over nine points per game. Three juniors also round out the returning players, forwards Jessica Geiger and J'Lisia Ogburn knocked down over 40 percent of their shots from the field last season, and guard Carolyn Whitney led the team in assists with just over three a contest.
FAU HEAD COACH: Chancellor Dugan begins year number ten as the Owls head coach. FAU has gone 111-152 with Dugan at the helm. Her milestone year was in 2005-06, when she led the Owls to an Atlantic Sun Conference title and the program's first-ever birth in the NCAA Tournament. The Owls would face Louisiana State University in the NCAA Tournament, where they led midway through the first half before falling to LSU 72-48. Dugan has coached some of the leading scorers in the conference. Mistoria Brown completed the 2006-07 campaign seventh in the Sun Belt with 14.2 points per game. Shontavia Williams averaged 16 points her senior year in 2005-06 and owns the FAU record for most points scored in a career. Prior to her arrival at FAU, Dugan turned division two school Southern Indiana into a national powerhouse. She took the Screaming Eagles to four NCAA tournaments and three Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) titles.
BASKETBALL SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW: Single game and season tickets are on sale for the 2008-09 women's basketball season. Season tickets are available for the 14-game regular season for $48. Courtside and sideline seats are also available. Those who purchase courtside seats will receive a priority parking pass and buffet food service. Single game tickets are on sale for $6, $4 for seniors, and group rates as low as $1. For more information call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT: For the second year in a row, Florida Atlantic will host a thanksgiving tournament at FAU Arena. The Owls will host Ohio Valley Conference opponent Tennessee Tech on Saturday, November 28 at 3 p.m. In the nightcap, no. 13 Texas faces Atlantic Coast Conference foe Georgia Tech at 5 p.m. The winners of the two games will face each other in the championship of the thanksgiving tournament at 3 p.m.; the losers will proceed in the consolation match at 1 p.m.
FAU IN THE BAHAMAS: Later in the non-conference season, the Owls will travel to Nassau, Bahamas to participate in the Sunsplash Shootout. FAU will face Mercer University on December 18 at 4 p.m. Two day later the Owls play East Carolina University on December 20 at 4 p.m. The last time FAU played outside of the United States was back in 2000 when the Owls lost to Oral Roberts University and Arkansas State University in the "Fun in the Sun" Classic in Cancun, Mexico.
TURNER IMPRESSIVE IN OPENER: Of the four newcomers for FAU to participate in the season opener against Baylor, Breana Turner stood out. Turner came off the bench late in the first half and got on a hot streak en route to scoring a team-high 14 points against the nationally-ranked Lady Bears.
STUBBS NAMED TO ALL-SUN BELT TEAM: Guard Carla Stubbs was named to the All-Sun Belt third team after last season. Stubbs led the Owls in scoring at 12.6 points a game and just under five rebounds a game. Her best game of the year came against Florida International University when he scored 22 points and 11 rebounds in the Owls first win over FIU since 1996. Stubbs was the first player named to an all conference team since FAU joined the Sun Belt.
THE NEW CLASS: Florida Atlantic adds depth in 2008-09 with a highly thought of recruiting class ranked no. 64 in the nation by Dan Olson Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. Three junior college players highlight the class. Jessica Knurick was the 12th-ranked junior college forward in the nation; she averaged 15 points and nine rebounds per game for Seminole Community College last season, leading the team to a 26-3 record and a Mid-Florida Conference championship. Candace Lambert started all 62 games in her two years at Howard College in Texas. She scored over 700 points in her career and was named all-conference her freshman and sophomore years. Erica Caldwell was named Region X pre-season and post-season All-American after averaging just over 18 points per game at Spartanburg Methodist College in South Carolina. Two true freshman round out the class. Teri Stamps led Vincent High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to back to back state championships. She was the no. 1 point guard in Wisconsin after averaging a double-double in points and assists in both her junior and senior years. Breana Turner was a four-year letter winner at De La Salle High School in New Orleans, Louisiana, scoring over 2,400 points in her career, and 26 points per game her senior year.
GIVENS RE-WRITING RECORD BOOKS: The highlight of last year's recruiting class for FAU was forward Jaimie Givens. Last year she was the only freshman in the Sun Belt conference to start all of her team's games. In the process, Givens set freshman school-records for rebounds in a season (182) and block shots (36), while finishing just behind Amanda Whitney for the freshman record for points and field goals made.
DIFEO ADDED TO STAFF: Lou Difeo joins the coaching staff at Florida Atlantic. Prior to joining the Owls staff, Difeo spent the past four seasons at the University of Tennessee at Martin, during which he helped guide the Skyhawks toward becoming a yearly contender in the Ohio Valley Conference. Known for his high energy and ability to recruit, Difeo brought in three players which were named to the OVC All-Newcomer or All-Freshman team.
BOWE SETS IN-LINE SKATING RECORD: Brittany Bowe who has won multiple world championships as an inline speed skater competed and set a new world record in the 300 meters at the World Speed Skating Championships in Gijon, Spain this past September. Bowe set the record with a time of 26.610 seconds, more than three-tenths of a second off the old record set by Simona de Cesaris of Italy who set the record back in 1987 with a time of 26.986 seconds.
MAJOR UPGRADES IN `THE BURROW': The FAU Arena (a.k.a. `The Burrow'), home of Florida Atlantic basketball, has undergone a transformation over the past two years. The entire arena was remodeled inside and out in the fall of 2007 - which included the installation of a state-of-the-art video scoreboard. Gone are the bleacher seats, as chair-back seating is now in place throughout the arena. Additionally the completion of four luxury suites is expected soon. The suites will be equipped with 16 seats, nine fixed seats in front and seven stools in the back row. A sink and refrigerator will be available as well as individual climate control and a wall-mounted flat-screen TV. For more information on seating and tickets call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
