In their final home game of the season, Florida Atlantic women’s basketball (13-16, 7-10 AC) won a pivotal game against the Tulane Green Wave (11-18, 6-11 AC), ending their three-game losing streak.
The Owls are now 2-4 all-time against the Green Wave and move to 7-10 in the American Conference with one game remaining on their schedule.
“I thought our seniors have been resilient all season long,” FAU Women’s Basketball head coach LeAnn Freeland said in the postgame press conference. “They have been fantastic, and I am just really proud of the team today for pulling off the win against Tulane.”
It was a tight game after one, with both teams ending the quarter not scoring for two plus minutes. FAU’s defense forced five turnovers and 4-11 shooting for the Green Wave.
FAU leads after a competitive first quarter, 12-11
The Owls went 0 for 5 from three in the first quarter, but turned it around, making four of their six three-pointers in the second quarter, including one from guard Grace Carstensen that helped them retake the lead.
For the Green Wave, guard Kanija Daniel led with 13 points after the first half, scoring more than half of her team’s points after the first half.
However, the Green Wave struggled closing out another quarter, going almost three minutes without a field goal.
The Owls increase the lead to four at the break, 28-24
In the third quarter, the Green Wave won the period. FAU shot 6-19 from the field in the second half and only 2-9 from three.
Tulane was staying in the game throughout, refusing to let the Owls build their lead.
The Green Wave cut the Owls’ lead to one after the third, 44-43
The Owls couldn’t find their rhythm from the floor, starting off shooting 2 of 8 from the floor and 0-6 from three. They also allowed the Green Wave to shoot 20 free throws in the game with 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
After a crucial turnover and foul from forward Vivian Onugha with under a minute remaining, the game was tied by Green Wave guard CC Mays. It didn’t stay that way for long as FAU guard Madi Gewirtz hit a clutch three with thirty seconds remaining.
The Owls close out their home schedule with a nail-biting win, 61-57
Simmons led all FAU scorers with 13 points on 4-9 shooting. Gewirtz had 10 points, including a game-winning three. Simmons spoke about what senior night meant for her and the team.
“It means a lot just having each other’s back since day one, since the summer,” Simmons said. “We’ve been grinding it out, and we wanted to do it for our team.”
The game was close throughout, but the Owls led for over 27 minutes, while the Green Wave led for only 10.
The final regular season game for the Owls is on March 7, 2 p.m., against the Temple Owls at the Liacouras Center.
Anthony Ortiz is a Reporter for the University Press. Email him at ajangus1331@gmail or DM on Instagram @ajortiz_38 for more information on these and other stories.
