Offensive Spurt Keeps Women's Basketball Competitive at #22 Michigan State

Thursday, December 20

East Lansing, Mich.

7 PM

Florida Atlantic

3-8

Michigan State

10-1

Fla. Atlantic

Michigan St.

Photo by: ©JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Offensive Spurt Keeps Women's Basketball Competitive at #22 Michigan State

12/20/2018 9:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Florida Atlantic University women's basketball team (3-8) battled against No. 22 Michigan State (10-1) on the road on Thursday night, connecting on 13 3-pointers and cutting the game to 10 in the third quarter, but ultimately fell, 89-74.

HOW IT WAS DECIDED

Danneal Ford drove into the paint for a contested layup to score the first points of the game. The Spartans scored on back-to-back possessions, but a Myka Johnson Matthews three put the Owls back ahead. After a Michigan State three, Matthews scored again to tie up the game. From there, the Spartans outscored the Owls, 22-5, to close out the period
FAU was able to cut into the Michigan State lead in the second quarter, outscoring the Spartans, 17-16. Ra'Kyra Gabriel scored seven of the Owls' 17 points in the frame, including five during a 7-0 run by the Owls
Amber Gaston took her turn to collect points in the third quarter, scoring six in the period. Glenisha Harkless connected on two 3-pointers and Jayla Adams hit one of her own at the 5:13 mark that cut the score to 10 points. Tyana Robinson also made two 3-pointers to give the Owls five total in the period
The Owls outscored Michigan State 22-15 in the final quarter behind six points from Johnson Matthews and five from Harkless

COACH JABIR'S TAKE
"I'm very proud of our team. I thought playing at a top-25 team's home court it would be really intimidating with their crowd. We really improved. We showed a lot of qualities that I think are important to us. I'm really excited about that and I feel like we're headed in the right direction."

GAME NOTES

Gabriel led the way for the Owls with 13 points and six rebounds
Harkless was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc for 11 points. The freshman also had five assists, three rebounds and two assists. Her five helpers were a new career high
Johnson Matthews added 11 points, connecting on 3-of-5 3-point shots as well. She became the first FAU player to eclipse 100 points on the season. She also had three rebounds and a steal
Juliette Gauthier had seven points, eight rebounds and six assists. Her eight boards were a new career high
Gaston finished with eight points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal
Adams shot 3-of-5 from three for nine points to tie her career high in points
FAU connected on 13 3-pointers, a season high for the Owls. FAU's 74 points were also a season high
The Owl's 16 turnovers tied the season low for FAU

UP NEXT
The Owls will next take the hardwood on Dec. 28 during the FAU Holiday Classic. North Carolina A&T, Yale and Saint Louis will be participants in the tournament with FAU taking on North Carolina A&T on the 28th at noon. Yale and Saint Louis will square off at 2:30. The winners from both games will face each other on the 29 at 2:30 for the title, while the losing teams will play at noon.

TICKETS
For tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit FAUSports.com.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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