Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Owls Battle Mean Green on Saturday
1/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2009
Game Notes in PDF Format 
Florida Atlantic (5-11, 2-4 Sun Belt) at North Texas (6-11, 2-4 Sun Belt)
The Super Pit - Denton, Texas
Saturday, January 17- 6 p.m.
GAME SEVENTEEN: The Florida Atlantic University women's basketball team hits the road in search of their second straight win as they face North Texas on Saturday, January 17 at 6 p.m.
SERIES: North Texas leads 2-0. In the last meeting at FAU Arena on January 19, 2008, a shorthanded Owls team hung tough against the Mean Green. Jaimie Givens led three FAU players in double-digits with 19 points. However, the Owls couldn't stop Amber Jackson, who went nine-of-13 from the field and scored 22 points as North Texas defeated FAU 74-66.
RADIO/INTERNET: Steve Bishop will call the action with live streaming audio beginning at 5:45 p.m. on www.fausports.com.
ON THE LINE: A number of milestone accomplishments will be set on Saturday if the Owls get a win. With a victory, FAU will already have more conference wins than they had in each of the past two seasons. It will also be their first two-game winning streak in conference play and it will also be their second ever conference road win.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC:FAU defeated rival FIU in the annual "Bury the Burrow in Red" game at FAU Arena on Wednesday night 94-82. It was the most points scored by the Owls in a game since FAU scored 91 points against Stetson in the 2003 Atlantic Sun Tournament. Brittany Bowe (Ocala/Trinity Catholic HS) had a monster game, putting up her second double-double of the year, 20 points and 13 assists along with seven steals. Five other Owls scored in double-digits, Carla Stubbs (Miami/Jackson HS) scored 15 and pulled down a team-high tying five boards. Andrea Taylor (Birmingham, AL/Vestavia Hills HS) scored a career-high 18 points and went five-of-five from beyond the arc as the Owls shot 48 percent (35-72) from the field and seven-of-15 from three-point range. FAU only committed six turnovers on the night.
NORTH TEXAS: North Texas snapped their six-game losing streak on Wednesday night with a 76-69 win over Denver. Four players scored double-figures, led by guard Yari Escalera with 18 points. Escalera was put into the starting lineup in the past five games and has seen her numbers go up, averaging just over 15 points per game during that stretch. Forward Amber Jackson had another double-double for North Texas with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jackson averages a double-double per game for the season with 16.8 points per game and 10 boards per contest. Brittney James also provides a fair amount of scoring from her two-guard position. She's second on the team at 11.3 points per game and is tied for the team lead in steals at fewer than two per contest.
TURNER CLASSIC: Freshman Breana Turner turned in one of the best performances by a freshman in school history against Middle Tennessee on January 7. Turner poured in 26 points, a career-high and the most points scored by any FAU player since Mistoria Brown scored 33 points against North Texas on January 20, 2007. It's also the most points scored by a freshman since Chantale Jones scored 26 against Boston University on December 6, 1998. Turner followed that performance with a 16 point effort against WKU on January 11. She averages 11.4 points per game in conference play.
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 (13), Baylor (14), Middle Tennessee (38) and Western Kentucky (85). The Owls boast a win over South Alabama, who was ranked 88th at the time of the victory. In conference play the Owls will face two more teams currently in the top-100, Arkansas-Little Rock (60) and ULM (93) Going back to the Texas game on November 30, the last ten opponents boast a combined record of 91-57 coming into this week.
WINNING IN THE SUNSHINE STATE: With the win on January 14 over FIU, the Owls have now gone 3-0 against teams from the state of Florida. Earlier in the year, the Owls defeated UCF on the road and Bethune-Cookman at FAU Arena. The Owls only other in-state battle this season is the second meeting with the Golden Panthers in Miami on February 28.
BOWE EMERGES IN SUN BELT PLAY: Since the Bahamas Sunshine Shootout, Bowe has emerged as one of the main options on offense. She's second on the team in scoring during the conference season at 12.4 points per game and second in rebounding at just over five boards per contest. Her performance was highlighted by a 21 point performance against WKU on January 11 and her third career double-double, 20 points and 13 assists with seven steals against FIU on Wednesday.
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 six games that were decided by seven 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 SCORING AND DISHING 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 two games over a twelve-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 40 assists, 13 more than she had all of last year.
NEXT UP FAU will host ULM at FAU Arena on Wednesday, January 21. For tickets and more information, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
