Women’s basketball: FAU still winless on the road after loss to Middle Tennessee State
The Owls fall to 0-9 away from Boca Raton.
Junior Melinda Myers scored 10 points in the Owls loss at Middle Tennessee. Photo by Mohammed F. Emran
January 21, 2017
Florida Atlantic women’s basketball is still searching for its first road win of the season and its first win of 2017 after an 87-69 loss to the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders Saturday afternoon in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The Owls (4-14, 0-7 Conference USA) shot 41 percent from the field and committed 21 turnovers that led to 23 points for the Blue Raiders (11-7, 6-1 Conference USA).
Freshman Alexis Shannon led FAU with 17 points — a career high — shooting 4-for-7 from the field, three of which were 3-pointers
The Blue Raiders’ Alex Johnson finished with a career-high 37 points on 13-of-24 shooting, adding 10 of those points from the free-throw line.
The first quarter was particularly tight, with neither team being able to pull away from the other. The largest lead was five points.
However, the Blue Raiders began pulling away in the second, scoring the first seven points of the quarter to take the first double-digit lead of the game 30-20 with 7:41 remaining.
Despite a scoring drought of more than three minutes between the 7:26 and 4:00 mark by the Blue Raiders, the Owls were unable to take advantage and get back in the game. Middle Tennessee went on to knock down five of its last seven shots and take a 45-34 lead into the locker room.
Both teams combined for 20 total turnovers in the first half. Middle Tennessee shot 52 percent from the field, while the Owls were held to just 36 percent.
Ty Petty, Gabby Lyon and Johnson outscored the entire Owls roster 39-34 in the first half, led by Johnson’s 18 and Petty’s 13 points. Lyon added eight points, going 2-for-2 from deep.
Although the Owls were able to cut the lead to seven points halfway through the third quarter, a 3-pointer by Johnson extended the lead back to double digits and that’s the closest the Owls were able to get in the second half.
The Blue Raiders extended their lead by as much as 18 points in the fourth quarter. They shot 49 percent from the field, including 9-for-18 from three.
FAU will try and halt the losing streak on Thursday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. when it hosts rival Florida International at FAU Arena.
Hans Belot Jr. is the sports editor of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him at @Don_Phenom_.
