Owls Finish Strong in Overtime Win Over Georgia Southern

Wednesday, December 18

Phoenix, Ariz.

2 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

7-4,0-0AAC

Georgia Southern

6-4,0-0Sun Belt

OT 1

Ga. Southern

Fla. Atlantic

12/18/2024 7:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHOENIX – The Florida Atlantic Owls captured their first overtime victory of the season, earning a 71-66 win over the Georgia Southern Eagles to open up play in the GCU Have Fayth Christmas Classic on Wednesday inside Global Credit Union Arena.

The Owls improve to 7-4, while Georgia Southern falls to 6-4.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Ta'Ziah Jenks got the Owls started with the first bucket of the contest, but the Owls had a slow start to the day, falling behind 15-8 after the opening period.

Emaya Lewis got things started for the Owls in the second, sparking an 11-5 Owls' run to cut the deficit to one, 20-19, with 5:45 to play. Georgia Southern scored four unanswered to kick the lead back to five, 24-19. Trailing by four at 25-21, back-to-back triples from Mya Perry sparked a 14-7 Florida Atlantic run to close out the half, giving the Owls a three-point advantage at the break, 35-32.

Jada Moore opened the scoring in the second half, but the Eagles responded with five unanswered to tie things up at 37 at the 6:49-minute mark. The two squads traded leads through a 43-42 Georgia Southern advantage, but the Owls closed the third on a 9-3 run to take a five-point lead, 51-46, entering the final 10 minutes of play.

The Eagles went on a 7-2 run to open the fourth, tying the game at 53 with 6:32 to play. Georgia Southern retook the lead 56-53, but a jumper from Erin Rodgers and a Perry 3-pointer brought things even once more at 58. The Eagles took the lead 60-58 with 1:10 to play, but Erin Rodgers hit the game-tying jumper with eight seconds to play, 60-60, to send things to overtime.

The Owls opened the extra period on an 8-2 run to lead by six with 1:47 to go in the contest. Georgia Southern got two back to make it a four-point game, but the Owls and Eagles traded free throws the rest of the way as the Owls eventually captured the 71-66 win.

HEAD COACH JENNIFER SULLIVAN POSTGAME THOUGHTS

"Our first overtime game of the season, and what a great finish. Super excited to get the win. Erin Rodgers was terrific on her birthday. That was a big game for us, traveling all this way and being able to finish strong. We need to get off to a better start, but super excited that we were able to finish out the game."

NOTES AND TEAM STATS

Mya Perry and Erin Rodgers led the way for the Owls, both posting new career-highs in scoring. Perry led all scorers with 27, while Rodgers finished with an impressive 22 points on the day.
Rodgers also recorded her first career double-double with 13 boards.
Stefanie Ingram also had a career day, dishing out a career-best 13 assists, which ties her for 2^nd nationally for assists in a single game this season.
Rodgers hit the game-tying jumper to send the contest to overtime and scored eight of the Owls 11 in OT to secure the win.
The Owls broke 50 rebounds for the first time this season in the win.
Florida Atlantic outscored the Eagles 27-17 in the second and 16-14 in the third quarters.
The Owls outshot Georgia Southern 37.5 percent to 32.9 percent from the field and 38.1 percent to 30 percent from beyond the arc.
Florida Atlantic also held advantages in transition points, 11-4, and bench points, 25-21.