A beautiful Saturday in South Florida led to a beautiful day for Florida Atlantic in their matchup against FIU (1-4). The Owls dominated from start to finish to earn a double-digit victory over the Panthers
First Half
Florida Atlantic opened the contest with back-to-back threes followed by a Mya Perry (Pictured above, FAU) layup to give an early 8-0 lead to the Owls. At the media timeout it was 12-6 FAU. To close the first, the Panthers and FAU traded scores to end the first at 16-11 in favor of Florida Atlantic.
To begin the second, FIU cut the lead to three, but thanks to a 12-2 run FAU gained a 28-15 lead at the media break. Florida International cut into the lead, but trailed by ten at halftime, 31-21 Florida Atlantic.
Second Half
Coming out of halftime, FIU’s Parris Atkins cut the deficit to seven, but Florida Atlantic extended their lead to 19 with 2:57 left in the third. The Panthers and FAU traded shots, but the Owls reached a 20 point lead to end the third, 48-28 FAU.
Shortly into the fourth FAU gained a 22 point lead at 52-30 with 7:49 left in the game. FIU responded with an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to 56-47 with two minutes left. The two squads traded buckets to end the game, but the Owld held on to earn the victory, 62-52.
Mya Perry led the Owls with 22 points and 6-9 from beyond the arc. Alana Rouser and Maria Myklebust led with boards as each earned five each. Stefanie Ingram led in assists with her total of eight. As a squad the Owls earned 15 assists. Florida Atlantic went 10-17 in threes which is what carried them to their victory.
Florida Atlantic (4-2) will have close to a week off before hosting Manhattan (4-1) and Austin Peay (1-3) in the Thanksgiving Classic at the Elly. The Jaspers and Governors both play on Sunday before coming down to Paradise. Manhattan’s lone loss came at the beginning of the season to Rutgers, while Austin Peay has had their struggles losing their last three contests. The first match for the Owls in the Classic will be on Friday, Nov. 29, at 2 p.m.