In its first road game of the season, Florida Atlantic women’s basketball was greeted by a 34-point performance from the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Year, Mercer junior guard Kahlia Lawrence.

She led the Bears to a 74-57 victory, giving the Owls their first loss of the season.

FAU (2-1) struggled to maintain any kind of rhythm on offense as the team lost the turnover battle 22-3 against a stifling half court zone defense. Mercer (3-1) feasted on FAU’s mistakes all night long, finishing the game with 28 points off turnovers.

FAU was also haunted by a rough shooting night from beyond the three-point arc, as the Owls shot 6-of-24 from three after making 10 in their last outing.

FAU was in striking distance for much of the second half after making 6-of-8 shots to jump out to a 43-42 lead in the third quarter. Throughout the game, FAU out rebounded Mercer 45-37, and  its bench outscored the Bears 31-17 — two key statistical categories that typically translate into wins.

Unfortunately for the Owls, a Mercer 19-0 run in the fourth quarter ballooned its lead back up to 17 points by the game’s final whistle.

The Owls, who were without senior Kat Wright for the third straight game, were led by junior Raven Doyle. The forward recorded a team high in scoring and rebounding with 12 points and eight rebounds respectively.

Freshman guard Alexis Shannon scored eight points on 4-of-4 shooting in just 15 minutes.

FAU will look to bounce back against the 2-1 North Florida Ospreys who are coming off a 46-point win over Webber International. The game will tip off in Jacksonville, on Sunday, Nov. 20, at 1:00 p.m.

Christopher Libreros is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him at @ChrisIsAirborne.