The Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman (1-3) made the three hour trip south to Paradise as Florida Atlantic played their last home game at the Elly until Thanksgiving weekend. A strong start to the contest provided the momentum for the rest of the game as FAU dominated the Wildcats to close out the home stand 3-0.
First Half
Talk about a fast start for the Owls; Florida Atlantic went 4 of 5 from behind the arc to begin the first and Mya Perry (pictured above, Dylan Vo) dropped eight points with FAU leading 17-4 at the 4:38 mark in the first. The Wildcats had no response for FAU. The Owls closed the half on a nine-point run to own a commanding 29-6 lead after the first. Perry had already dropped 13 points and was 3 of 4 from three-point land.
The second quarter started slow compared to the first with FAU only adding eight to their total in points as Florida Atlantic led 37-12 with 4:51 left in the first half. The Owls lead held steady with Bethune-Cookman only cutting into the advantage by one. FAU went into the half leading 45-21.
In the first half Florida Atlantic dominated in two categories: three-point shooting was absurd with the Owls going 8-13 and FAU out rebounded the Wildcats 28-18.
Second Half
Bethune-Cookman came out of the half playing aggressive on defense forcing three Owl turnovers in two minutes. The Wildcats cut the deficit to 20, while Florida Atlantic called a timeout to regroup and finish the game off with a win, 52-32 Owls. Bethune-Cookman cut the deficit to 15, but thanks to the red-hot shooting from Perry, the Owls held a 18 point advantage, 55-37 with 4 minutes left in the third. FAU managed to hold a 59-39 lead at the end of the third even though they committed 12 turnovers compared to the Wildcats five.
It all started to click for the Owls in the fourth. FAU’s defense held the Wildcats scoreless from the 8:41 mark up until the media timeout at 4:04. Florida Atlantic gained their largest lead of the day at 71-45. The Owls closed out the game holding Bethune-Cookman to two of their last 14 on FG’s as FAU pulled off the victory, 78-49 over the Wildcats.
Three Owls finished with double-digit points with Perry earning 16, Erin Rodgers earning 15, and Stefani Ingram contributing 11. Rodgers shot 7-10 on the day while Ingram was a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc. Freshman Emaya Lewis led the way with her eight rebounds while Mari Myklebust (pictured above, Dylan Vo), and Erin Rodgers had seven, the team had 49 total.
Coach Sullivan shared after the match her thoughts about the game, “We talked about a lot of things after North Florida that we wanted to improve on going into this game that really had anything to do with Bethune. And we were able to do that, which we were excited about, capitalizing off turnovers, finishing offensive rebounds, and obviously shooting in the ball game. So just really pleased and excited, encouraged to work with this group.”
Florida Atlantic (3-1) will hit the road for the second time this season to face-off against Stetson. Currently, the Hatters sit at 2-1 with their lone loss coming against Miami (FL). Both Stetson and FAU faced off against the University of Fort Lauderdale with the two squads winning. The Owls had the more dominant victory even though it was an exhibition game for Eagles and FAU. Stetson faces UCF on Saturday before hosting the Owls on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m.