Second-quarter Struggles Plague Owls in Loss at UAB

Wednesday, January 31

Birmingham, Ala.

7 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

6-14,1-8AAC

UAB

16-5,7-2AAC

Fla. Atlantic

UAB

Photo by: UAB Athletics

1/31/2024 11:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Florida Atlantic Owls (6-14, 1-8 AAC) couldn't overcome second-quarter struggles, falling on the road against the UAB Blazers (16-5, 7-2 AAC) on Wednesday inside Bartow Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Owls started hot, scoring first and opening the contest on a 9-5 run, capped off by a Mya Perry 3-pointer. UAB evened things up at nine, but the Owls kicked their lead back out to four, 13-9, off a Perry layup and a jumper from Dyllan Hanna. The Blazers tied things up again at 13 at the 4:05-minute mark. The Owls and Blazers traded baskets over the final four minutes of the period through a 21-21 stalemate after one.

UAB scored four unanswered to open the second, but the Owls battled back to even the contest at 25 and 27, the latter of which was courtesy of a layup from Jada Moore with 5:37 to play in the half. The final five minutes of the half was a struggle for the Owls offensively, scoring just one free throw from Hubbard, as the Blazers outscored the Owls 14-1, as the Owls fell behind 41-28 heading into the locker room.

The Owls cut the deficit back to single-figures over the opening four minutes of the half, following a 6-0 run to make it 46-37, however the Blazers answered back with a 15-7 run through the 3:13-minute mark to extend their lead back to 17, 61-44. The Owls battled back to close out the quarter, outscoring the Blazers 9-3 to cut the lead to just 11 entering the final 10 minutes of play.

Florida Atlantic cut the deficit back to nine once more off a pair of jumpers from Hubbard and Perry, 66-57, but the Owls just couldn't string together a run to close the gap with the Blazers as the Owls eventually fell 83-72.

HEAD COACH JENNIFER SULLIVAN POSTGAME THOUGHTS

"I thought we tried to fight, but the biggest thing for us was transition defense. I thought for the most part in the first half we did a good job defending the 3-point line, but credit to UAB, they beat us in other ways. Off the dribble, pull-up jumpers. 32 had a terrific game, just taking advantage of what we were trying to take away. So, credit to their team and you know, I thought we had opportunities to close it up and get it close, but we just couldn't take advantage. We will regroup and get ready for Rice."

NOTES AND TEAM STATS

Aniya Hubbard, Mya Perry, and Alexa Zaph turned in double-figure performances to lead the Owls.
Hubbard tallied her seventh 20-point game of the season, scoring a game-leading 23 points, shooting 53 percent (10-of-19) from the field, in addition to pulling down four boards, dishing our three assists, grabbing three steals, and blocking a shot.
Perry scored a team second-best 19 points, marking her team-leading 14^th double-figure performance this season. She shot 41 percent (7-of-17) from the field, 43 percent (3-of-7) from beyond the arc, and a perfect 100 percent (2-of-2) from the line, while also tallying a rebound, an assist, and a steal.
Zaph scored 12 points for the Owls, shooting 33 percent (2-of-6) from the field, 40 percent (2-of-5) from 3-point range, and going a perfect 100 percent (6-of-6) at the line. She also collected three boards, dished out three assists, and snagged two steals.
Florida Atlantic outscored UAB 25-23 in the third and tied the Blazers 21-21 in the first and 19-19 in the fourth.
The Owls outscored the Blazers in the paint 36-26, in points off turnovers, 21-13, in fast break opportunities, 12-6, and in bench production, 28-21.

UP NEXT

The Owls return to Paradise this weekend as they welcome the Rice Owls for Florida Atlantic's National Girls & Women in Sports Day game. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

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