Owls Earn Win in Birmingham

Saturday, January 10

Birmingham, Ala.

3 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

7-9,1-3American

UAB

7-9,0-4American

Fla. Atlantic

UAB

1/10/2026 9:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Florida Atlantic women's basketball team secured its first American Conference win of the season, earning a 70-63 road victory at UAB on Saturday.

The Owls improve to 7-9 on the season and 1-3 in American play, while UAB drops to 7-9 and 0-4 in league play.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Vivan Onugha got the Owls on the board first, 2-0, but UAB answered back, going on an 11-4 run to take an 11-5 lead. The Owls got back within one after a 3-pointer from Grace Carstensen and an Onugha layup, 11-10, but UAB responded with five unanswered points to push the Blazers' lead back to 16-10. FAU closed the quarter with a 9-1 run to retake the advantage, 19-17, after the opening quarter.

Florida Atlantic scored back-to-back buckets from Ineivi Plata and Onugha again to open the second and extend the Owls' lead to seven, 24-17, with 7:39 to play in the first half. The Blazers scored on a 3-pointer to cut the Owls' advantage to four, 24-20, but FAU continued to battle. The Owls knocked down back-to-back triples courtesy of Zahira Arizmendi and Carstensen to push their lead to the largest of the half, 37-26, at 11 with 1:12 remaining. The Blazers got two more back to close out the half as the Owls took a nine-point lead, 37-28, into the halftime break.

Onugha opened the scoring in the second half, extending the Owls' lead back to double-figures, 39-28. UAB cut the Owls' advantage to six, 39-33, at the 7:21-minute mark, but the Owls rallied off a 9-2 run, capped off by another Carstensen 3-pointer and a layup from Arizmendi to extend the Owls' lead back to 13 at 48-35. The Blazers went on a 12-4 run to cut the Owls' lead down to five, 52-47, with 53 seconds to play in the third, but Carstensen knocked down her fourth triple of the day to make the FAU lead eight, 55-47, entering the final quarter of play.

Madi Gewirtz hit her first 3-pointer of the day to open the fourth, sparking a 9-3 run to extend the Owls' lead back to its largest of the day at 14, 64-50, with 5:40 to go. The Owls continued to lock in defensively through the final 10 minutes of play to capture the 70-63 win.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH LEANN FREELAND
"Great road win today at UAB. I feel like we played really hard and the girls really locked in defensively to take UAB out of their offensive actions. We played really well together. Very proud of the effort, and we will continue to grow from here."

NOTES AND TEAM STATS

The win marked the first American Conference victory for Head Coach LeAnn Freeland.
Four Owls registered double-figure performances in the win, led by Onugha with a team-best 15 points. Carstensen finished with 12 points, while Gewirtz and Arizmendi posted 10 points apiece.
Gewirtz led the Owls on the glass, recording a career-best nine rebounds against the Blazers.
Jess Moors dished out a team-high four assists and Arizmendi collected a team-best three steals in the win.
Florida Atlantic outscored the Blazers in the first, 19-17, and second quarters, 18-11.
The Owls also outshot the Blazers 33 percent to 19 percent from beyond the arc, while also tallying a major advantage on the boards, outrebounding the Blazers 48 to 33.
FAU also capitalized in transition, outscoring UAB 15 to 5 off fast break points.

GALLERY

Gallery: (1-10-2026) WBB at UAB

UP NEXT
The Owls return to Paradise next week as they get set to host a pair of home contests, beginning with Wichita State on Tuesday, Jan. 13. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena and on ESPN+.

FOLLOW THE OWLS
To stay up to date with everything Florida Atlantic women's basketball, follow @FAUWBB_Hoops on X and @FAUWBB on Instagram, or like Florida Atlantic Women's Basketball on Facebook.

Florida Atlantic's 2025-26 season is sponsored by Flagler Credit Union.