Women's Basketball to Host Thanksgiving Tournament Nov. 25-26

Nov. 23, 2016

Boca Raton, Fla. -

FAU Thanksgiving Tournament Game Notes

What: Jacksonville State (2-3) vs. Florida Atlantic (2-2)

When: Friday, Nov. 25 - Noon

Where: FAU Arena - Boca Raton, Fla.

Coverage: FAUSports.TV,

What: Richmond (1-3) or Florida A&M (0-3) vs. Florida Atlantic (2-2)

When: Saturday, Nov. 26 - Noon or 2:30 p.m. (TBD)

Where: FAU Arena - Boca Raton, Fla.

Coverage: FAUSports.TV,

An Owl's eye view of FAU:

After some good shooting last week, the Owls upped their field goal percentage to .422 for the year and are fourth in Conference USA in scoring offense with an average of 74.8 points each game. The team has six players shooting .400 or better and are fourth in the conference in assists/game with 17.75. FAU's rebounding offense is also solid, averaging 43.3 boards per contest.

Last time out for the Owls: University of North Florida (3-1) handed the Owls (2-2) a heartbreaking 95-88 loss in double overtime on Sunday afternoon. The Owls were carried on the back of redshirt junior Raven Doyle who put up a career-high 22 points and tied her career high in rebounds with 11. All but one player that saw the floor scored and had at least one rebound. Five Owls had three assists while another three picked up one or more for 19 altogether. The game saw 16 lead changes as FAU lost the turnover battle allowing the Ospreys 40 points off 29 giveaways while earning 33 off North Florida's 24.

Whooo to watch: Forward Doyle saw her second double-double of the season with a career-high 22 points and 11 rebounds, shooting a season-high 75 percent from the field and 55.7 percent over the weekend. In 42 minutes of play, she went 9-for-12 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the line. Doyle is shooting .487 and averaging 13.3 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, which puts her 16th and second in Conference USA, respectively. She is also 15-for-17 from the free throw line, which puts her fourth in C-USA (.882) in that category.

Juniors Malia Kency and Sasha Cedeno scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, with Kency hitting three from beyond the arc and Cedeno picking up two. Kency is second on the team with 11.0 points per contest. Freshman Katelyn O'Reilly was another leading scorer with a season and career-high 12 points after going a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. The forward has a team-leading .591 field goal percentage. Julia Jenike also had a season and career-best eight points and seven rebounds against the Ospreys.

An Owl's eye view of Jacksonville State:

Head Coach Rick Pietri, entering his fourth year in charge of the program, returns six players from a season ago, including top point producer senior Briana Benson. Senior Lacey Buchanon has been called upon to fill the point guard position while senior Kelly Naughton adds veteran leadership to the guard position. JSU returns the outside presence of junior Gretchen Morrison and the post position with junior Tyler Phelion and sophomore Chloe Long. The Gamecocks have four new faces in the program with the addition of two junior college transfers and a pair of freshmen looking to add depth to the guard position and in the post. The Gamecocks sit in sixth place in the Ohio Valley Conference and were selected to conclude the season eighth in the conference. The team is shooting .392 while opponents are earning .401 from the floor. JSU has an impressive .396 3-point field goal percentage and brings down an average of 36.2 rebounds each game.

Most recent outing for the Gamecocks: The University of New Orleans hit the game-winning basket in the waning seconds to top Jacksonville State (2-3), 81-79, on Tuesday night. The Gamecocks gave up a season-high 81 points in a game that saw 13 ties and nine lead changes. JSU's ability to hit the long range shot kept it in the contest as it hit double figure 3-pointers for the second time this season. Jax State matched a program-record 14 treys in the season opener at Florida State.

Whooo to Watch: Buchanon highlighted JSU's second-half effort with 14 points in the final 20 minutes against UNO. She finished the game shooting 6-of-12 from the field, including 6-of-9 from the field in the second half. Junior Gretchen Morrison, who led all JSU scorers with 17 points, connected on 5-of-10 from behind the 3-point arc. Patterson added four treys and turned in 14 points off the bench. Phelion and Naughton added eight points, while Long posted six points.

Morrison is the team's second-leading scorer with 8.8 points per game as the Gamecocks are led by senior guard Briana Benson who averages 10.8. Benson also leads the charge on defense with 6.2 boards/game followed by sophomore forward Rayven Pearson with 6.0. Five of JSU's key players are shooting above .400 with Pearson on top hitting 56.3 percent of her shots.

An Owl's eye view of Richmond:

The University of Richmond returns 90% of its scoring, 75% of its rebounds and 87% of its minutes from a season ago including Preseason All-Atlantic 10 First Team selection Janelle Hubbard. Micaela Parson also returns after having a breakout season in 2015-16. The Spiders have added size in recruiting this season with Jaide Hinds-Clarke, Amy Duggan and Ragan Wiseman all clocking in north of six feet with Daniella Hatcher coming in at 5-8. Hinds-Clarke is a classic post player while Duggan and Wiseman will stretch the floor. Hatcher carries many similarities to Parson as slashing guard. The Spiders are currently 11th in the Atlantic 10 and were chosen to finish seventh in the preseason poll. The team is shooting 30.3 percent with opponents landing 39.3 percent of their attempts.

Most recent outing for the Spiders: Richmond (1-3) scored its first win of the season on Sunday, knocking off Appalachian State (2-2), 55-46, on 40 combined points from Hubbard and Parson. Supporting the two big scoring efforts were Alicia Hudalla (7 pts, 7 reb), who made her third straight start, Kylie Murphree (6 ast), and Lauren Tolson (6 pts, 9 reb). Those efforts helped Richmond outrebound App State, 55-46, including a 14-8 effort on the offensive side. As a team the Spiders managed to shoot 35.2 percent, including a 43.8 percent mark in the third quarter.

Whooo to Watch: Hubbard led all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting against App State. She was also 2-of-7 from long range and 6-of-6 from the free throw line while pulling down a pair of rebounds and handing out two assists. She is second on the team with 14.3 points per game and shooting .362 from the field. Parson continued her hot start with 18 more points, putting her in double figures for the 13th consecutive game in the App State contest. She has a team-leading 17.0 point-per-game average and is second among the Spiders in assists (11) and third in rebounding with 4.8/game. Tolson is the team leader on the boards with 25 on the year and averaging 6.3 each game while Murphree has a team-high 13 assists to date.

An Owl's eye view of Florida A&M:

Head coach LeDawn Gibson is starting her 10th season at FAMU. Heading the pack of returning players will be forward Alicia McCray and point guard Victoria Nguyen, along with junior guard Dawn King and 6-4 redshirt sophomore center Shalunda Burney-Robinson. Gibson also landed a seven-person recruiting class which has bolstered the returning group. The Rattlers are currently 11th in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference standings and were predicted to finish sixth in the preseason poll. As a whole, the Rattlers are shooting 31.7 percent from the floor while opponents average 41.6 percent against them.

Most recent outing for the Rattlers: Visiting Eastern Illinois staged a second quarter scoring surge that carried them to a 66-50 victory over FAMU on Tuesday night. FAMU (0-3) got off to a slow start, scoring just eight points in the first quarter, but put on a 10-4 scoring jag early in the second stanza to tie the game at 18-18. The visiting Panthers then staged a 17-4 scoring run to forge a 35-22 halftime lead, a lead they would never relinquish, as they would outpace FAMU, 31-28 on the scoreboard in the second half.

Whooo to Watch: Junior Shakerrya Morrison led FAMU with 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots versus EIU, while freshman Ny'Asia Davis added 10 points, four blocks and four rebounds. Morrison, along with senior Florence Outtara, are leading the team with an average of 10.0 points per game and shooting .409 and .314, respectively. Morrison also leads the team in rebounds per game with 7.7. Davis has a team-leading .500 field goal percentage with 6.7 points per contest.

In addition to the live stream on FAUSports.TV, you can get live, in-game updates by following the Owls on Twitter @FAU_WBB.

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