Women's Basketball Bounces Back With Win at Siena

Saturday, December 1

Albany, N.Y.

1 PM

Florida Atlantic

3-5

Siena

3-5

Florida Atlantic

Siena

Photo by: ©JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

12/1/2018 4:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

ALBANY, N.Y. – The Florida Atlantic University women's basketball team (3-5) earned its first road win of the season at Siena (3-5) on Saturday afternoon in Albany, New York. The Owls were led by three double-digit scorers in Juliette Gauthier, Ra'Kyra Gabriel and Glenisha Harkless.

HOW IT WAS DECIDED

Siena opened the game with a three, but the Owls responded with a 9-0 run sparked by a Gauthier three from the left corner. Neither team scored in the final 2:51 of the period and the Owls took a 15-12 lead into the second quarter
The left corner was kind to Gauthier, who hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter, two of which came out of that corner. In all, Gauthier scored 11 points in the frame and the Owls had a five-point lead at the half
The third quarter was Harkless' turn to catch fire from beyond the arc. Harkless went 3-of-3 from long range during the quarter and helped the Owls reach their biggest lead of the game by going up 11 points
The Owls started the fourth quarter with a nine-point lead, trading baskets with Siena until the Saints were able to convert on back-to-back possessions and cut the lead to three with 2:43 left in the game. Myka Johnson Matthews split a pair of free throws to push the Owls ahead by four. The Saints answered back with a pair of free throws to cut it to two. Danneal Ford stepped up and hit two from the charity stripe to clinch the game for FAU with 31 seconds left

COACH JABIR'S TAKE
"I feel like today was a good game. I think we got better. We executed a little better. Our conditioning and our ability to execute has to improve, but overall we were able to maintain enough composure to get a win. That's great for a young team on the road, especially with it being the second game on a trip. I was happy with the outcome today."

GAME NOTES

Gauthier was the game's leading scorer with 18 points, a new career high for the freshman. She connected on four 3-pointers and pulled down four rebounds and made two steals
Harkless finished with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-4 from three. It was the first time the freshman had scored in double figures as a collegiate player
Gabriel was the third Owl in double figures with 11 points. She also had five rebounds and matched her career-high with three blocks
Ford got the starting nod against the Saints and put up eight points, five assists, five rebounds and a block
Abby Voss once again led the Owls on the boards, pulling down 11 rebounds which is the third game this season the freshman has had double digit rebounds
Amber Gaston was in the starting lineup for the second straight game. She finished with seven points, four rebounds and two assists
The team shot 47.6 percent from beyond the arc, connecting on 10 threes. That mark ties the Owls' season high
Overall, FAU shot 46.7 percent from the field which is the best shooting game the Owls have had this season. FAU's 70 points were a season high for the team
With a young team, turnovers have been an issue with the Owls this season. Against Siena, FAU tied their season low with only 17
Also with the youth of the team, Jabir is still tinkering with the starting lineup. He went with his sixth lineup combination of the season against the Saints
FAU has now made a 3-point field goal in 260 consecutive games dating back to the 2009-10 season

UP NEXT
The Owls will have 10 days off for finals before resuming play on Dec. 12 at Furman at 7 p.m. FAU will return home on Dec. 16 against Western Michigan. Tip-off for that game will be at 2 p.m.

TICKETS
For tickets, call 1-800-FAU-OWLS or visit FAUSports.com.

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