FAU Falls in Final Seconds to UTEP 51-50

Saturday, January 14

Boca Raton, Fla.

5:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

-412, 05 CUSA

UTEP

-512, 23 CUSA

UTEP

Florida Atlantic

1/14/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Jan. 14, 2017

Box Score

Boca Raton, Fla. -

Box Score

Sasha Cedeno's last-second buzzer beater bounced in UTEP's favor as the Miners (5-12, 2-3, C-USA) took a 51-50 win over Florida Atlantic University women's basketball (4-12, 0-5 C-USA) on Saturday night at FAU Arena.

The Finish:

Julia Jenike took the lead back for the Owls at the start of the fourth, but the Miners answered right away as Najala Howell hit a three then a layup to put UTEP on top. The teams exchanged threes back and forth as Katelyn O'Reilly and Nika Zyryanova both hit one as did the Miners' Lulu McKinney and Howell. The Owls were down 51-46 with just over three minutes to play as Raven Doyle made a layup to put FAU within three. Doyle then goes the free throw line and comes away with two more points to put FAU down one. UTEP did not see a score for the final 3:07 and ran the clock down to just five seconds. FAU inbounded the ball and Zyryanova found Cedeno who threw up the three just before the buzzer. Cedeno got a very good look, but the ball hit the rim twice and finally bounced out to give UTEP the win.

On the Court with Coach Jay:

"(For the final possession) we wanted to get a good look at the basket. Our first option was going to Raven (Doyle). They took that away and covered it, so our second option was to penetrate and see what Nika (Zyryanova) could find. They helped in and we had to kick it out to Sasha (Cedeno). I thought it was a good look. It looked like it was going down, but it didn't bounce our way," said Head Women's Basketball Coach Kellie Lewis-Jay. "Defensively I think we did a phenomenal job. You hold a team to 51 points. You get more offensive rebounds. You get to the free throw line more. Stat-wise you should win the basketball game, but shooting 28 percent, you're not going to win many games. I think that they know that we can do it, but it starts with everyone believing in themselves and not getting tentative, staying in attack mode, getting to the rim and finishing at the rim. That is going to come with experience too. We have a young team that we are putting on the floor and these are the lessons that they will learn from."

The Breakdown:
In the first quarter, UTEP came out and took an early lead as FAU saw zero field goals for more than five minutes. The Owls' Jacey Bailey would see the team's first basket as her famous hook shot found its mark at 4:26. FAU would then take the lead off a Nika Zyryanova jumper. The Owls held the Miners scoreless for the final five minutes as they went on a 10-0 run and Zyryanova racked up six more points on 4-of-6 shooting to put the Owls up 16-9.

Sasha Cedeno began the second quarter by hitting a shot from two feet behind the 3-point line to give the Owls a 10-point lead, the largest of the game to that point. The Miners narrowed the lead in the final three minutes when they went on a 7-0 run. In the quarter, FAU forced eight UTEP turnovers and committed only two. The home team again secured the lead into the half, 26-19, as both teams earned 10 points in the quarter.

The FAU offense seemed to falter a bit in the third as they only had eight points on 21.4 percent shooting compared to UTEP's 15 points. The Miners went on a 6-0 run at the beginning of the quarter, which was aided by three FAU turnovers. The visitors saw another 6-0 run mid quarter, which was capped off at 3:43 when the Miners took the lead off a three from Ax Bernard. Katelyn O'Reilly put the Owls back up one with just over a minute to play, but both teams would score three more to tie the game 34-34 going into the fourth.

"Nothing But Net" Notables:

Zyryanova went 5-for-10 from the floor for 12 points and added two rebounds and one assist. Cedeno had another solid outing with 11 points, including two 3-pointers, six rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal.
Doyle pitched in on both sides of the ball with a team-high eight boards along with four points and one assist. O'Reilly and Melinda Myers had six rebounds apiece while Jenike tied her career high with two steals.
UTEP's 51 points is the lowest of any FAU opponent this season, but the Owls also saw their lowest score of the season with 50 points.
FAU committed just 14 turnovers while earning 17 takeaways from UTEP, which resulted in 13 points for the Owls. UTEP shot 34.5 percent overall, and FAU matched their season low field goal percentage of .288.

What's Next:

Women's basketball is in the heart of conference play and will travel to Birmingham, Alabama to play UAB on Thursday, Jan. 19. The Owls will then head to Murfreesboro, Tennessee to face Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Jan. 21.