Owls Stun No. 25 Middle Tennessee 73-70

Saturday, February 21

Boca Raton, Fla.

5:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

11-15, 8-8SBC

Middle Tennessee

23-5, 15-1SBC

Middle Tennessee

Florida Atlantic

2/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Feb. 21, 2009

Final Stats

Florida Atlantic University held on after Jessica Knurick missed a free-throw with 17 seconds to go. Brandi Brown of Middle Tennessee missed a three-pointer late, and after Jackie Pickel picked up the rebound, Knurick came away with the decisive steal to give the Owls a 73-70 win over the Blue Raiders on Saturday. It is the first ever win for FAU in women's basketball over a ranked Division I opponent.

The Owls picked off the lead after getting off to a hot start, going on a 10-2 run led by two lay-ups by Breana Turner. MTSU would cut into that lead and eventually take the lead by as many as three points after a Brown three-pointer put the Blue Raiders on top 18-15. Brown led MTSU with 12 points in the first half, but she was unable to stop the Owls on defense in the first half. FAU shot 57 percent (16-28) and took a 39-33 lead at halftime on a Carla Stubbs put back of an Andrea Taylor miss.

FAU started the second half just as quick as they did the beginning of the game as the Owls went on an 8-0 to pick up the biggest lead of the game at 14. Two Knurick lay-ups on passes by Stubbs and a Taylor jumper put the Owls up 47-33 with 17 minutes to go. The Owls kept the lead in double-digits, pushing it back up to 14 points twice more, the latest coming after Turner made two free-throws to give the Owls a 62-48 lead with eight minutes to go. MTSU would then go on a run late, pushing the lead into single digits on a Brown three to cut the lead to 63-56. They would later cut the lead to three points on an Alysha Clark lay-up with 28 seconds left. Forced to foul, Pickel would foul Knurick with 17 seconds to go. Her miss on the front end of the one-and-one set up the dramatic final stop for FAU.

"This is a huge win for us," said Head Coach Chancellor Dugan. "To win on senior night is special, and I couldn't be happier about defeating a top-25 team for the first time ever."

Clark led all scorers for Middle Tennessee (23-5, 15-1 Sun Belt) with 32 points and 13 rebounds. Brown had 15 points and Chelsia Lymon scored 13. MTSU was hounded by turnovers; they committed 18 on the game and shot below their average from three-point range, as they knocked down nine-of-28 from beyond the arc.

Turner led FAU (11-15, 8-8 SBC) with 18 points. Knurick tied her career-high with 16 points and Carla Stubbs added 13. FAU shot 51 percent (27-53) on the night, made 14 of 20 free-throws and only turned the ball over 11 times.

FAU returns to action on Wednesday night as they travel to Bowling Green, Kentucky to face Western Kentucky at 8 p.m. Live streaming audio can be heard on www.fausports.com.