Owls comeback falls short in loss at LA Tech

Saturday, February 11

Ruston, La.

3 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

-1212,510 CUSA

LA Tech

-1410,77 CUSA

Fla. Atlantic

Louisiana Tech

2/11/2023 7:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

RUSTON, La. – The Owls (12-12, 5-10 C-USA) just couldn't overcome a slow start, falling 68-56 against the LA Tech Lady Techsters (14-10, 7-7 C-USA) on Saturday afternoon at Thomas Assembly Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Owls had a slow start to the day, quickly falling behind 19-9 after the first 10 minutes of play.

The Lady Techsters extended their lead to 18 over the first three minutes of the second period to hold a 29-11 lead. Jada Moore scored on an and-1 to spark an 8-0 Owls' run, which was capped off by another jumper from Moore to bring the Owls back within 10 at 29-19 with 4:57 remaining in the half. The Owls continued to battle back, outscoring the Lady Techsters 10-5 to cap off an 18-5 FAU run to close the gap to just five after a coast-to-coast finish from Joiya after grabbing the steal to make it 34-29 with just 17 seconds to play, however a foul gave LA Tech two more points to make it 36-29 at the break.

The Owls continued their momentum into the second half, opening the third on a 12-6 run that was capped off by a jumper from Ajalon Gillard to bring the Owls back within a point at 42-41 with 3:10 remaining in the third. After another Lady Techster bucker, Jada Moore responded with a layup to keep the Owls within one at 44-43 at the 1:21-minute mark. But much like the second, LA Tech recorded a pair of free throws to close out the period and hold a 46-43 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

Alexa Zaph opened the fourth with a layup to bring the Owls once again within one at 46-45, but the Lady Techsters responded on a 7-0 run to push LA Tech's lead back out to eight, 53-45 with just under five minutes to play. The Owls kept things within six after a jumper from Hubbard at the 2:13-minute mark, but that was as close as the Owls would get. The Lady Techsters closed the contest outscoring the Owls 11-5 over the final two minutes of play to win, 68-56.

Quotable from Coach Sully

"We talked about battling and fighting from the start to give ourselves an opportunity to be successful. I didn't think we did that against Rice, and if we had, the second half would have given us a chance. But I thought we did that tonight. Got off to a slow start in the first quarter, but to be down 18 and cut it to within seven at the half was big for us. We've got to have more reps of that in order to get over the hump of winning games like this. We're going to keep mixing it up, continuing to figure it out to finish ballgames. Proud of their effort, but we just need more of that effort consistently, not take steps back in order to get over the hump."

NOTES AND TEAM STATS

Aniya Hubbard and Jada Moore led the Owls with a team-best 11 points each in the contest.
Hubbard shot finished 5-of-17 from the field and a perfect 1-of-1 from the free throw line, while also pulling down six rebounds, dishing out a team-high four assists, tying for a team-best three steals, and collecting a team-leading two blocks.
Moore shot 5-of-9 from the field and a perfect 1-of-1 from the line, while pulling down a team-best eight rebounds, and adding two assists and a steal.
The Owls outscored the Lady Techsters 20-17 in the second period and 14-10 in the third.
FAU also outscored LA Tech in bench points, 21-15, points in the paint, 38-24, and points off turnovers, 22-15.

UP NEXT

The Owls return to Boca Raton this upcoming week as they host the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on Thursday, Feb. 16. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

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