Owls Overwhelmed by Rice 89-55

Saturday, February 11

Houston, Texas

3:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

4-19, 0-12

Rice

14-9, 5-7

Florida Atlantic

RICE

2/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Feb. 11, 2017

Box Score

Houston -

Box Score (PDF)

Florida Atlantic University women's basketball (4-19, 0-12 C-USA) was overwhelmed by Rice (14-9, 5-7 C-USA) 89-55 on Saturday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse.

The Finish:

FAU attempted a comeback in the fourth quarter as the Owls went on a 10-2 run in the first five minutes led by Julia Jenike and Katelyn O'Reilly. FAU also held Rice scoreless from 8:29 until 4:35. After that, FAU made six of their last eight with six points coming from O'Reilly and four from Alexis Shannon. During that time, five Rice players combined for 14 of the team's 16 points of the quarter to seal the victory.

The Breakdown:

Wendy Knight led the Rice offense with seven of the team's nine points in the initial five minutes of the first quarter. Sasha Cedeno put FAU on the board with a shot from downtown and 6;39 left to play. The home team proceeded to go on a 7-0 run over the next 2:42 while FAU went scoreless and committed three turnovers. Shannon ended the drought with a 3-pointer, but Rice had on a 19-3 run over the final 5:37 while FAU did not see a field goal for the last 3:19.

Rice came away with six of their first nine shots as they took a 39-12 lead at the 4:07 mark. Rice then went on a 13-8 run over the remaining four minutes to take a 54-20 lead into the half, which is the largest deficit FAU has seen at the halfway point this season. The home Owls outshot the visiting Owls 60-22.2 percent in the quarter while outscoring FAU 29-12. Rice earned 10 of those points at the free throw line as FAU committed seven fouls.

At the start of the third quarter, Melinda Myers and Cedeno went on a 7-0 run in just over thirty seconds as FAU held Rice scoreless for 2:19 to come within 29 points. Rice answered with a 13-0 run over the next 402 led in part by Nicole Iademarco with a pair of threes. FAU witnessed a scoring drought for almost the remaining five minutes until Cedeno went in for a layup and then hit a 3-pointer accounting for nine of the Owls' 14 total points. However, Rice took a 73-34 lead into the final 10 minutes of play

"Nothing But Net" Notables:

Shannon made her fifth consecutive start of the year and has now earned 11 or more points in the last five of six outings with her 13 this game. The freshman also added five rebounds and one steal.
Fellow freshman O'Reilly turned it on in the fourth quarter as she saw 10 of her 12 total points. This was the forward's 16th game shooting 50 percent or better from the floor. Cedeno matched her with 12 points including two from beyond the arc.
In her second game back, Raven Doyle had a team-best seven boards along with four points and a steal. Every Owl that saw the floor had at least one rebound.
FAU faced its largest deficit of the season going into the second half of the game as they were down by 34. The team also suffered its biggest loss of the season, falling by 33 to the Rice Owls.
Rice had five players score in double figures led by Iademarco who had 18 followed by Knight with 16. Gabby Ozoude had a double-double with 10 points and a matching 10 rebounds.

What's Next:

FAU will be back at The Burrow to face LA Tech on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. followed by Southern Miss on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 5 p.m. For ticket information, please call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit FAUsports.com.