Florida Atlantic University Athletics
FAU Women's Basketball Continues Conference Play
12/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2008
South Alabama (11-2) at Florida Atlantic (3-8)
FAU Arena - Boca Raton, Florida
Thursday, January 1- 12 p.m.
GAME TWELVE: Hoping that the new year begins better than the old year ended, the Florida Atlantic University women's basketball team gets back into conference play with a matchup against the Jaguars of South Alabama on New Year's Day at 12 p.m.
SERIES: South Alabama leads 4-1. These two teams met twice last season, with the Jaguars winning both times. In the first meeting at FAU Arena on January 3rd, 2008, Shakira Nettles led USA with 17 points and five players scored double-figures as South Alabama defeated FAU 72-62. In the rematch in Mobile on February 16, Nettles led the Jaguars again with 15 points as they defeated the Owls 65-39.
RADIO/INTERNET: Steve Bishop will call the action with live streaming audio beginning at 11:45 a.m. on www.fausports.com.
OWLS ON NEW YEAR'S DAY: This is only the second time ever that FAU will play on New Year's Day. The only other time they started the new year, FAU defeated Northern Michigan 60-50 on January 1, 1987.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC: FAU lost another close game on Monday night when the South Carolina State Bulldogs defeared the Owls 79-78 at FAU Arena. The Owls fought back from as many as 13 points down in the second half to take the lead. Carla Stubbs (Miami, FL/Jackson HS) led the way with a season-high 21 points, going eight-of-14 from the field, 14 of those points came in the second half. Jessica Knurick (Commerce, MI/Seminole CC) held her own inside with a career-high 13 points and eight rebounds. Candace Lambert (Omaha, NE/Howard College (TX)) scored all ten of her points in the second half as FAU led by five with 21 seconds to go in the game before falling late. FAU won the battle on the boards, out rebounding South Carolina State 41-31, and picked off 16 boards on the offensive glass.
SOUTH ALABAMA: The Jaguars are currently 11-2, having won their last five games and their first two games in the Sun Belt conference. The Jaguars last played and defeated Ohio University out of the Mid-American Conference 68-64 on Monday night. They also boast an early conference win over Western Kentucky 66-59 on December 17. The Jaguars averaged just under 70 points per game and are led by former Michigan transfer Jessica Starling who averages 15.5 points per game. Last year's All-Sun Belt selection Shakira Nettles is having another solid season, averaging 13.6 points per game and just under four boards per contest. Guard Siedah Banks runs the point is in the top ten in the Sun Belt at just over four assists per game. last year.
OWLS PLAY STRONG SCHEDULE: FAU played some of the top teams in the country in non-conference play. FAU has faced four teams in the RPI-top 100, according to realtimerpi.com Texas (11), Baylor (12), Mercer (90) and East Carolina (100). In conference play the Owls will face five more teams currently in the top-100, Middle Tennessee (38), Western Kentucky (64), ULM (81) , South Alabama (88) and Arkansas-Little Rock (94).
KEEPING IT CLOSE: Though FAU would like to come away with a few more victories, the Owls have played in a number of tight games this season. The Owls have played in five games that were decided by six points or less this year. That's compared to six games that were decided by the same margin all of 2007-08. That total does not include the 76-66 overtime loss to Denver that was close through the final minutes of regulation.
STUBBS CONTINUES TO PAY DIVIDENDS: Since being re-inserted in the starting lineup against UCF on November 22, Carla Stubbs has returned to the form that led to her being named All-Sun Belt Third Team last season. Since being inserted in the lineup, Stubbs has scored double-digits in all but one game over a nine-game stretch. Among the noteworthy performances was a 12 point, nine rebound game in the win over Bethune-Cookman November 25, and a 21 point performance Stubbs has also been dishing out assists at a personal-record pace. She has 26 assists, one fewer than she had all of last year.
LAMBERT DELIVERS OFF THE BENCH: After being held in check through most of the non-conference season, Candace Lambert has broken through in the last two games. Lambert scored 13 points on three-of-five shooting from beyond the arc against East Carolina. She then followed that up with a ten point performance, all of those coming in the second half against South Carolina State.
NEXT UP The Owls hit the road for back-to-back conference games on back-to-back nights. FAU travels to face Troy on Tuesday, January 6 at 8 p.m. The very next night, the Owls face Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro, Tennessee Wednesday, January 7 at 8 p.m.
