BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University women's basketball team (8-9, 6-7 Conference USA) earned their fourth straight home win Friday night by knocking off Southern Miss (7-10, 5-10 C-USA), 78-63.
Iggy Allen was unstoppable in the Owls' effort to snap the Lady Eagle's three-game winning streak over FAU after tallying 33 points and 18 rebounds in the win. The Owls also shot 53 percent from the field.
Â
Â
1Q
The Owls got off to a hot start, as
Iggy Allen tallied five of the Owls' first seven points. Not surprisingly, the guard led the way with a quick 10 points and three boards after the first six minutes of play. The Owls then fell in a scoring drought for almost three minutes, as Southern Miss caught up and cut the Owls' lead, 13-9, with three minutes left. The Owls ended the quarter on a 6-0 run, leading Southern Miss, 21-14. Allen logged 15 points and four rebounds in the first quarter alone, tallying more points than the whole Southern Miss team.
Â
2Q
Allen continued to light it up on the court, opening the quarter with a jumper. The Owls would then fall into a three-minute scoring drought, while Southern Miss charged on a 6-0 run. Allen broke the drought with a pullup jumper off a turnover. At the media timeout, the Owls led 30-26 with 4:40 left in the half. Southern Miss got within three points with less than three minutes left, but
Astou Gaye knocked down her second 3-pointer in the quarter, as the Owls led 35-29. FAU led 37-31 at the half.
Â
3Q
Sofia Galeron started the Owls off in the second half, delivering a 3-pointer off a lucky bounce, as the Owls led at the media timeout, 40-31. Not long after, Allen notched another deadly 3-pointer, her third of the night as the Owls' extended their lead to 12. Galeron helped the Owls take their largest lead of the night of 13 points off her second 3-pointer of the game. Southern Miss then went on a 6-0 run to cut the Owls' lead, 48-41, with 2:29 remaining. The Lady Eagles cut the Owls' lead within four, but FAU cruised on a 7-0 run to end the frame. FAU's run in the quarter was capped off by Allen receiving a beautiful pass from
Bre Beck to knock down a triple. The Owls led 57-46 after three quarters of play.
Â
4Q
FAU kept the momentum rolling into the final quarter, going on an 8-3 run. The Owls took a 16-point lead after Allen made a second-chance layup with 6:30 on the clock. Southern Miss tallied their first 3-pointer of the night with 2:35 left in the game, but the Owls still led 70-60 with 2:17 left in the contest. The Owls outscored the Lady Eagles in the fourth quarter, 21-17, to earn a 78-63 win.
Â
- Allen had an unbelievable night, notching 33 points and a career-high 18 rebounds along with three steals. The guard was a perfect 8-8 from the floor in the first half, ending the night shooting 13-17. She tallied her ninth double-double of the season
- Galeron had a great night of shooting, tallying a career-high 17 points on 7-11 shooting with three assists
- Gaye logged 11 points and three assists
- Jaenta Rozentale registered eight points and tied a career-high 13 boards
- Amber Gaston recorded three blocks
- Alexa Zaph came up with five assists
- FAU broke a three-game losing streak over Southern Miss
- The Owls outrebounded the Lady Eagles, 42-33
- FAU shot 53 percent from the floor, their second time shooting over 50 percent this seasonÂ
Â
"It is good to play ugly with a very short roster and find a way to outrebound a very good rebounding team," said head coach
Jim Jabir. "We must improve our offensive efficiency and take better care of the ball. We are winning and must continue improve."
Â
FAU will close out the final home series of the year tomorrow against the Lady Eagles with a 2 p.m. tipoff. Tickets may be purchasedÂ
here. All tickets for home games will be delivered digitally on individual mobile devices. Season tickets may be purchased through the ticket office by calling 1-800-FAU-OWLS (866-328-6957) or emailingÂ
tickets@fau.edu.
Â
For complete coverage of FAU women's basketball, follow us on Twitter (
@FAUWBB), Instagram (
@FAUWBB)Â and Facebook (
FAU Women's Basketball).
Â