Owls Drop 82-67 Decision to Southern Miss

Saturday, February 18

Boca Raton, Fla.

5:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

-421, 014 CUSA

Southern Miss

18-9, 10-5CUSA

Southern Miss

Florida Atlantic

2/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Feb. 18, 2017

Box Score

Boca Raton, Fla. -

Box Score

Florida Atlantic University women's basketball (4-21, 0-14 C-USA) had three players score in double figures but were overcome by Southern Miss' (18-9, 10-5 C-USA) 36-point fourth quarter and dropped the decision 82-67 on Saturday night at FAU Arena.

The Finish:

After more than 16 minutes playing from behind, Brittanny Dinkins retook the lead for Southern Miss in the first two minutes of the fourth with five points. The teams exchanged baskets as both hit three of their last three and FAU trailed by five with just under six to play. Southern Miss widened the gap to 10 via an 8-0 run over 1:19 and 4:45 left to play. The Lady Eagles followed that up with a 13-7 run over the remainder of the quarter for a total of 36 points and the win.

On the Court with Coach Jay

"I thought we fought and played hard for three quarters, and unfortunately we ran out of gas in the fourth," said Head Women's Basketball Coach Kellie Lewis-Jay. "We had some players step up tonight, which was great to see. We just have to keep fighting."

The Breakdown:

The Owls took the first points of the game as Nika Zyryanova hit one from downtown to put FAU on the board. The Lady Eagles then put together a 6-0 run over 2:09 as the Owls went scoreless. Katelyn O'Reilly ended the drought with a layup and one. Fellow freshman Julia Jenike kept the Owls in the game with a basket from beyond the arc and one in the paint as USM went on another 6-0 run. With less than a minute left, Raven Doyle tied things up at the free throw line, and the FAU defense would stay strong to end the quarter 16 all.

FAU's offense lit things up in the second quarter starting with a 6-0 run in less than a minute to retake the lead at the 6:22 mark. Alexis Shannon found a hole and went in for back-to-back baskets while Malia Kency regained the lead with a jumper in the paint. During that time, the Owls forced three Lady Eagle turnovers, and USM then went scoreless for the next 2:21 until Dinkins tied the game again with five minutes to play. Kency wasn't done yet as she hit consecutive threes to give the Owls a 28-22 lead. Zyryanova hit one of her own from the 3-point line as part of another 6-0 run in under a minute. The home team had a 10-3 run over the final four minutes to go into the half ahead 35-25. The Owls shot 41.2 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from the perimeter while holding USM to just 27.3 percent shooting and nine points to their own 19.

In the first minutes of the third quarter, Southern Miss saw a 6-0 run in less than a minute to narrow the score gap. Zyryanova gave the Owls a bit of their cushion back with her third 3-pointer of the game to put them back up by 10 at 7:42 and start a 7-0 run over the next 1:25. FAU went scoreless for 3:50 until O'Reilly picked up two at the line with just over two minutes to play. Southern Miss took advantage of the Owls' offensive drought with an 8-0 run over the final 2:09 to come within three, 49-46.

"Nothing But Net" Notables:

Jenike was the team's top scorer for the second consecutive game as she came away with 16 points including two baskets from beyond the arc. The freshman guard added four rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes on the floor. This was her 14^th start in a row and fifth game hitting double-digit points.
The Owls had two other players hit double-figure scoring as O'Reilly had a career-high 14 and shot over 50 percent for the 17^th time this season, and Jacey Bailey had a career-best 11 on 5-of-9, which is also a personal best for the freshman.
Doyle resumed her position as the team's leading rebounder coming down with nine along with five points and three assists.
FAU was outrebounded by the Lady Eagles 50-33 but won the turnover battle committing just 13 to USM's 16 and taking 17 points off takeaways while giving up only nine.
Southern Miss had four players in double-digits led by Dinkins with 28 points and eight rebounds in 37 minutes. King was the team's leading rebounder with nine along and had 13 points.

What's Next:

FAU will play its final two regular-season road games in Texas beginning with UTEP on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 8:05 p.m. ET followed by UTSA on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. ET.