Owls Fall in Heartbreaker to Davidson

Saturday, November 27

Boca Raton, Fla.

2:30 PM

Florida Atlantic

-24,00 CUSA

Davidson

5-2,0-0Atlantic 10

Davidson

Fla. Atlantic

Photo by: Alex Liscio

11/27/2021 5:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University women's basketball team (4-2) dropped its fourth consecutive game, third by less than six points, to Davidson, 61-58. Down by one, FAU had a chance for the game-winning basket with 20 seconds remaining, but were unable to find the answer. Janeta Rozentale led the way with 13 points and eight rebounds in the loss.

How It Was Decided

1Q
The Owls began the game on a high note to roll on a 6-0 run to lead with 6:50 left in the first quarter. Davidson inched closer by three points off a 3-pointer, but a Nikola Ozola trey elevated the Owls to a 15-9 advantage with 1:16 left in the frame. Davidson converted a layup with seconds still on the clock, but FAU took a 15-11 lead after 10 minutes.

2Q
Davidson registered back-to-back 3-pointers to take the lead, 17-15, less than two minutes into the quarter. Kimia Carter then got fouled while attempting a 3-pointer and made all three shots for the Owls to retake the lead. FAU fell in a scoring drought for over four minutes, while Davidson was also held off the scoreboard for over three minutes. Rozentale ended the Owls' drought with a layup and Ozola recorded her second trey of the game to tie the game at 25 with 1:29 left in the half. Davidson responded with a second-chance layup on the other end and the Owls headed into the locker room down, 30-27.

3Q
The Wildcats opened up the first three minutes of the second half on a 5-2 run to lead 35-29. FAU then cruised on a 5-0 run thanks to an Aleza Zaph 3-pointer and two Rita Pleskevich free throws. Davidson was stuck in a two-minute scoring drought during this time to allow FAU to creep up within one point, 35-34. Pleskevich then tied the game up at 36 points off a jumper with 3:36 left in the third. Zaph then put the Owls up by two after two free throws, but after that, the lead changed over twice until it was tied at 43 with 34 seconds left in the third. A late foul by FAU sent the Wildcats to the line, and after converting two free throws, Davidson took a 45-43 lead going into the final quarter.

4Q
Zaph opened up the fourth quarter with a big 3-pointer to put the Owls back up, 46-45. The lead changed over four times, but then Rozentale tallied back-to-back layups, as the Owls went ahead 52-49 with 5:08 remaining. Davidson then came up with another big offensive board and capitalized on a 3-pointer to tie the game at 52. The Wildcats found their way back ahead by three points with 2:51 left in the game. Sofia Galeron then knocked down a huge 3-pointer and got fouled in the process. She converted the four-point play to put the Owls back ahead by one point with 1:32 left in the game. Following a Davidson timeout, the Wildcats found a response with a layup to pull ahead by one point with 20 seconds left. With the shot clock turned off, Rozentale was given the ball with six seconds left, but missed the layup. FAU fell on the second day of the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament, 61-58.

Game Notes

Rozentale led the Owls for the second game in a row, logging 13 points and eight boards
Amber Gaston followed with 12 points for her sixth consecutive double-digit scoring contest. She also added three boards and two steals
Zaph also joined the double-digit scoring club with 10 points along with six boards
Kynadi Kuykendoll logged five assists
Galeron did a phenomenal job crashing the boards, matching a career-high eight rebounds along with six points and two steals
Ozola added six points off 2-for-2 shooting from beyond the arc
FAU shot 40% from the field and outrebounded the Wildcats 33-29

Sully's Statements

"It was a heartbreaking game for us," said head coach Jennifer Sullivan. "After a couple of them we are just finding out as a team how to finish games and trying to avoid getting to those last second shots. I think our team is four to five stops away from getting out of that situation, so it's obviously disappointing."

Up Next

The Owls will hit the road to face Kennesaw State on Thursday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. FAU will return to Abessinio Court at FAU Arena to face Florida Memorial on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. Tickets for those games can be purchased here or by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS.

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