FAU Defeats Marshall; Starts Conference Play 1-0

Friday, January 5

Boca Raton, Fla.

7 PM

Florida Atlantic

7-5, 1-0

Marshall

6-8, 0-1

MAR

FAU

1/5/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Jan. 5, 2018

Final Stats Box Score (PDF)

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The Florida Atlantic University women's basketball team earned an impressive comeback win against Marshall on Friday night at FAU Arena to start Conference USA play 1-0 and secure the first conference win since March 5, 2016. The final score was 79-59.

The win was also first year head coach Jim Jabir's first win in Conference USA.

DETERMINING FACTORS

Marshall (6-8, 0-1 C-USA) jumped out to an early lead against FAU (7-5, 1-0 C-USA), but that lead would dwindle in the second period and the Owls would ultimately win handedly.

The Thundering Herd represented their nickname and thundered out to a 14-0 start to the game, hitting four three-pointers in the first three minutes of the game. The Owls played catchup the rest of the first period and found themselves down, 22-16, going into the second.

The second period is when FAU caught fire. At the 6:39 mark, the Owls took their first lead of the game on a Ra'Kyra Gabriel basket. The Owls used an incredible 18-0 run to not only retake the lead, but to put themselves ahead by 16 at halftime marking a 30 point turnaround in just two periods. FAU scored a season-high 28 points in the frame and held Marshall to just six.

The Owls maintained their lead for the remainder of the game, never allowing Marshall within single digits.

OF NOTE

Malia Kency had a season-high 20 points in the game, one point shy of her career mark. The senior was 4-of-7 from beyond the arc and also had four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the game.

Sasha Cedeño continued her streak of games scoring the double digits with 16 points. She now has 10-or-more points in nine straight games. She also had seven rebounds.

Danneal Ford once again turned in all-around impressive stat line. She finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Alexis Cowan also had an impressive stat line with three points, seven rebounds and four assists.

FAU outscored Marshall, 32-24, in the paint. Credit for that advantage goes to the Owls' post players, Ra'Kyra Gabriel, Raven Doyle and Melinda Myers. Gabriel had seven points and eight rebounds. Doyle found herself open in transition multiple times and was able to finish with eight points and five rebounds. Myers registered a statistic in every category kept and registered nine points, five rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block.

The Owls had their best shooting night of the season, connecting on 43.8 percent of their shots. They also scored 79 points, bringing their season average to 72.2. Seventy-nine points is the highest score the Owls have posted against a conference opponent since January 30, 2016.

FAU continues to outrebound opponents. The Owls had a 49-38 advantage on the boards against Marshall. FAU's season average is now up to 45.9 rebounds per game.

FAU utilized the bench against Marshall tonight. The Owls bench outscored the Thundering Herd, 40-0.

UP NEXT

The Owls will host UTEP on Sunday for the second conference game of the season. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m.

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