On Saturday, the Florida Atlantic Owls women’s basketball team (5-11, 0-5) fell 81-72 against the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricanes (13-5, 3-2). This loss extends the Owls’ losing streak to six, and they remain winless in conference play.
FAU shot 49% from the field and 35% behind the arc. Jada Moore and Janet Rozentale, the team’s leading scorers, each contributed 18 points. Moore picked up her first career double-double. The killer for FAU was giving up 30 points on 21 turnovers.
“I don’t think they are [Tulsa] a big turnover-forcing team. I think a lot of ours are just self-inflicted. I wish we could focus on more aggressive turnovers, not when the ball just hits up our hand or travels,” said head coach Jennifer Sullivan. “I hate that it was just that area for this game because we crushed it and all the other areas, which is great.”
Aniya Hubbard, the star guard and leading scorer for the Owls, returned to the team’s rotation for the first time since her last played game against Nebraska on Nov. 29. Last game against UTSA, Sullivan said that there was no estimation on when she’d return, as it seemed she was nursing an injury on her shooting hand.
Hubbard had 11 points on two total shots (1-2), along with 9-10 free throw shooting and three steals in 14 minutes off the bench.
The team was not taking any questions on her return or why she was away from the team due to an “internal team matter.”
The Owls will travel to face the University of Memphis on Jan 20 at 3 pm. The game will stream on ESPN+.
Recap
The Cane’s opened the game with five quick points before Dyllan Hanna could put the Owls on the board. FAU struggled to keep up with Tulsa’s fast pace as the Hurricanes would go on a 6-0 scoring run before Devyn Scott cut backdoor for the layup.
Hubbard checked into the game for the first time since Nov. 29. She drew a foul and went one for two at the line just seconds after.
Despite Tusla’s intensity, the Owls trailed by just five entering the second quarter, 17-12.
The struggles continued into the second quarter on both sides of the court for Florida Atlantic. Tulsa’s ball movement created easy open shots for the Hurricanes.
Rozentale’s layup cut the lead to eight before Brown responded with back-to-back buckets.
The Owls closed out the last minute and 21 seconds on an 8-0 run. Mya Perry hit FAU’s first three of the game, a big one coming within five.
“Credit to them; they do a great job of transition defense. They get the ball out quick, and they get the ball to the right people, and for us, it was a matter of reacting quickly,” said Sullivan. “We kept discussing that in huddles, the transition defense, to get back, not to give them easy open looks, and the girls settled into that. That’s why the game was close: they were able to sort that out on the fly.”
Florida Atlantic found their momentum as they trailed by three going into halftime, 35-32. Moore led the team with 15 points, nine rebounds, and an assist. Moore’s dominance inside the post kept FAU in the game.
Moore got the first two points of the third just as the shot clock expired, bringing the Owls within one. On FAU’s next possession, with a spin around from Rozentale, she got the bucket and gave the Owls their first lead of the game.
Perry and Maria Myklebust hit back-to-back threes for FAU before Tulsa guard Mady Cartwright responded with her own.
FAU and Tulsa went back and forth the next five minutes before the Owls capitalized, going on a 6-0 run. Tulsa guard Delanie Crawford went on her own 6-0 run, as the Hurricanes went up two going into the fourth, 57-55.
Tulsa guard Crawford made two back-to-back threes, putting them up by 10. The Hurricanes went on a 13-0 run before Perry got the Owls back on the board with just 5:07 left.
The Owls slowly fell apart during the last quarter, trailing by 15 with 3:40. Four made free throws from Hubbard brought the Hurricane’s lead to eight with just under a minute and a half of the game.
Despite graduate guard Alexa Zaph’s three with 25 seconds left, Tulsa remained in control in the last minute.
Gianna Alberti is a staff writer at the University Press. Email her at [email protected] or @giannaalbertii on Instagram for information regarding this or other stories.
