Owls Second-Half Rally Falls Short vs. East Carolina

Wednesday, February 26

Boca Raton, Fla.

7 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

10-19,2-14AAC

East Carolina

15-13,7-9AAC

East Carolina

Fla. Atlantic

Photo by: Rick De Paiva

2/26/2025 11:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic women's basketball's second-half rally fell short as the Owls dropped an 80-70 contest to the East Carolina Pirates on Wednesday inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

Florida Atlantic drops to 10-19 on the season and 2-14 in AAC play, while East Carolina moves to 15-13 overall and 7-9 in conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Jada Moore got things started for Florida Atlantic, putting the Owls on top first, 2-0. However, the Pirates outscored the Owls 23-2 over the remainder of the first to close out the period, with the Pirates up 23-4.

East Carolina extended its lead to 27-4 to open the fourth, but the Owls battled back on an 8-2 run to cut the deficit down to 17, 29-12, at the 5:59-minute mark. The Owls kept things within 40-21 at the 2:33-minute mark, but the Pirates scored six unanswered to close out the half as East Carolina led 46-21 at the break.

The Owls opened the third with back-to-back buckets from Stefanie Ingram and a 3-pointer from Kristina Godfrey, 46-26. East Carolina answered back to push its lead back out to 57-32 at the third quarter media timeout with 4:50 to go. The Owls locked in over the final four minutes of the third, knocking down back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to score nine unanswered, the Pirates got two free throws, but Ingram hit another three to cap off a 12-2 Owl run to cut the deficit to 15, 59-44, entering the final 10 minutes of play.

The Owls extended their run into the fourth, opening the final period of play on a 3-0 run, 59-47. The Pirates pushed the lead back to 67-49, but the Owls went on a 13-0 run, cutting the deficit to just five, 67-62, with 2:11 to play. Ingram connected on a layup to keep the Owls within five, 69-64, with 1:30 to go, but the Owls just couldn't finish out the rally as East Carolina eventually took the contest, 80-70.

HEAD COACH JENNIFER SULLIVAN POSTGAME THOUGHTS

"Considering our start, was really excited and encouraged by the finish. We scored four points in the first quarter and found a way to fight back and lost the game by 10, had to foul a little bit there at the end. I told the girls, just super proud of their fight. They could have rolled over and they didn't. They just kept showing up. We were a little short-handed without Mya out there. It was great to have Ta'Ziah contribute in a big way, kind of looked like her old self, and Kris hit some big shots and gave us some bench production. Really proud of our fight tonight."

NOTES AND TEAM STATS

Ta'Ziah Jenks and Stefanie Ingram led the Owls in the contest.
Jenks scored a team-high 22 points, shooting 44 percent (7-of-16) from the field, 67 percent (6-of-9) from 3-point range, and 50 percent (2-of-4) from the line, and added two rebounds, an assist, and a block.
Ingram finished with 18 points, shooting 50 percent (6-of-12) from the field, 50 percent from beyond the arc, and 80 percent (4-of-5) at the line, while also adding a game-high eight assists, a board, and a steal.
Jada Moore pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and added five assists and a team-high two steals.
Florida Atlantic outscored the Pirates 49-34 in the second half, outpacing East Carolina 23-13 in the third and 26-21 in the fourth.
The Owls also held advantages from beyond the arc outshooting the Pirates 59.1 percent to 33.3 percent, including connecting on nine more 3-pointers, 13-4, than the Pirates.

UP NEXT

The Owls close out their regular season road slate on Saturday, March 1 as they head to San Antonio, Texas, to take on the AAC regular season champion UTSA Roadrunners for a 1 p.m. tip inside the Convocation Center and on ESPN+.

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