Comeback Falls Short Against Tulsa

Friday, November 26

Boca Raton, Fla.

Noon

Florida Atlantic

-23,00 CUSA

Tulsa

5-0,0-0AAC

Tulsa

Fla. Atlantic

11/26/2021 3:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University women's basketball team (2-3) dropped a close game to Tulsa (5-0), 70-68, on Friday afternoon. FAU was down by as many as 14 midway through the third quarter, but the Owls overcame the deficit to creep within three points with under a minute left in the game. The Owls snapped their seven-game home winning streak and will look to bounce back tomorrow afternoon against Davidson in the final game of the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament.

How It Was Decided

1Q
The Owls opened up the game with back-to-back baskets to begin the game on a 4-0 run. Kynadi Kuykendoll then banked a 3-pointer, as the Owls led 7-2 after two minutes into the game. Tulsa began to find its stride to trail by three points at the media timeout. With 2:25 remaining in the quarter, the Owls led by just two, 13-11, but two Janeta Rozentale free throws and an Alexa Zaph layup pulled the Owls ahead 17-11 after one quarter of play.

2Q
Tulsa began to find its groove from beyond the arc, shooting 4-for-6 from 3-point land in the quarter. Two treys by Tulsa tied the game at 17 in the opening minute of the quarter. Tulsa took the lead for the first time of the game off a layup with 6:58 left in the quarter. Following a Rozentale layup, as the Owls trailed 25-23, Tulsa rolled on a 10-2 run to close out the half. FAU went into the locker room down 35-25 after being outscored 24-8 in the second quarter.

3Q
Alexa Zaph knocked down a 3-pointer following a no-look pass by Rita Pleskevich. The Hurricane then went on a 10-3 run to tally their largest lead of the game at 14 points with 6:16 left in the quarter. Pleskevich then splashed in treys on back-to-back possessions to cut Tulsa's lead to eight, 45-37. A Rozentale layup off a miss put the Owls within six points with 2:30 left in the quarter. Tulsa closed out the quarter on a 6-2 run, as the Owls trailed 53-41 after three quarters.

4Q
Kimia Carter knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the Hurricane lead back down to single digits, as FAU trailed 55-47 in the opening two minutes. Pleskevich registered her third 3-pointer, as the Owls were down 57-52 with 5:51 remaining. With the shot clock winding down on the Owls' possession, Kuykendoll made a huge 3-pointer to cut Tulsa's lead to three, 60-57, with 3:32 remaining. With 2:48 left in the game, Kuykendoll knocked down both of her free throw shots and the Owls were down by one. The Owls trailed by two points with 24 seconds remaining in the game and Pleskevich got a good look from 3-point range to overtake the lead, but the shot missed the mark. FAU was down by five points with three seconds left, but Zaph hit a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Owls lost 70-68 despite outscoring the Hurricane 27-17 in the fourth quarter.

Game Notes

Rozentale led the Owls with her second double-double of the season, logging 16 points and 10 rebounds along with a block
Pleskevich logged her fifth consecutive double-digit scoring game, tallying 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc. She also registered four assists
Amber Gaston also tallied her fifth consecutive double-digit scoring game, recording 14 points
Zaph logged 12 points and three steals
Kuykendoll tallied a career-high eight points on 2-for-3 shooting from beyond the arc, as well as four assists
Sofia Galeron matched a career-high eight boards, while tallying a block

Up Next

The Owls will wrap up the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament tomorrow against Davidson tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. Tickets for those games can be purchased here or by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS.

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